Xenoblade Chronicles - The Fifth Cycle
by IWriteSomeStuffSometimes
Summary: The Bionis and the Mechonis are locked in an unending cycle of destruction, then recreation. That is the fate of not only the titans, but the world. But with the blade that can defy fate itself, the Monado - can Marsh Artein and his unlikely group of misfits shatter that fate, and break the cycle? A prequel to Xenoblade Chronicles that focuses on original characters mainly.
1. The Battle of Sword Valley

**_Author's Note: Welcome to the first work I've really posted online. This is Xenoblade Chronicles - The Sixth Cycle, focusing on mostly original characters. As for the plot - some similar things will happen to the original Xenoblade Chronicles, but with key differences that make it a different experience. It's not just a retelling with original characters.  
_**

 ** _But with that out of the way, I hope you enjoy! And if you don't, that's fine - they can't all be winners, eh? Feel free to leave reviews, too - I like those._**

* * *

Long ago, the world was nothing more than an endless sea, cloaked in a boundless sky, reaching as far as could possibly be imagined…

And in this endless sea stood the two titans – Bionis and Mechonis, just as they had in the previous cycles. The existence of these titans is set. As long as they are locked in this cycle of destruction and rebirth, the titans will live on.

Will this cycle be the cycle to end them all?

And now, we've reached _that_ point in Cycle Number Five. The Battle of Sword Valley is nigh… this battle has been a constant in each cycle, with varying results. So how will it end?

So, will the fate that looms over our universe come true once again? Or will the fate be changed? Will the eternal cycle end?

I wait with anticipation.

 _Xenoblade Chronicles – The Fifth Cycle_

* * *

 ** _Sword Valley_**

Battalions of both Homs and Mechon were positioned amid a vast, snowy expanse… the infamous Sword Valley, known for its biting cold… as well as being the Mechonis's Sword and holding the bastion of the Mechon – Fortress Lancelot, a sprawling base where Mechon units could easily mobilize from.

The Homs were attacking this location. It was a huge risk… yet if they were to come out victorious, then the Homs would be at a sizable advantage. Taking Fortress Lancelot would be a huge boon… but that was a big if. And as it seemed, their crusade was proving difficult.

"Retreat, retreat!" Screamed out a defence force soldier, as he was knocked to the ground by an M54 Armoured Unit's large claw. "Get away from me!"

Another group of defence force soldiers charged into the hordes of Mechon which loomed in the distance, full of courage despite the overwhelming odds.

"Damn machines!" A blonde-haired Homs with an ether rifle cried out, as he fired off several shots into the Mechon group ahead. These shots connected and did damage, yet the Mechon didn't seem fazed.

They were powerful opponents… much more powerful than the Homs. The battle only seemed to be growing more hopeless for the people of Bionis by the second.

It was no secret that they were outpowered. The Mechon were metallic beings, equipped with all sorts of weaponry that could prove fatal to a Homs. On the flipside, their defence was incredible. Melee weapons were almost entirely useless against their powerful armour. In order to damage the Mechon, the Homs had to use explosives or ether to cause any meaningful damage.

A retreating Defence Force soldier pulled out a small radio, which he yelled into. "Where are you guys?!" The youthful defence force soldier cried out. "This isn't some big joke… we can't hold out any longer! People... no, our comrades are dropping like flies!"

The very same defence force soldier was promptly attacked by a damaged M63 Destruction Unit, which bashed him hard from the side. The Mechon followed up this move with a smash with its arm, knocking down the soldier.

"Hiyaagh!" A voice enthusiastically yelled out, and in seconds, the same M63 Destruction Unit that had knocked the soldier down had been sliced into two pieces, its head crashing down onto the snowy ground with a clang. It had been cleanly cleaved in two.

The defence force soldier looked up at his saviour… it was none other than a long, blonde haired man holding a shimmering red sword with a luminescent blue energy blade extending forth out of it. This was none other than Bearce Reyen… a man who wielded the Monado to fight the Mechon, despite the pain it caused him. Bearce was renowned as a hero throughout Bionis, unsurprisingly for the wielder of the Monado - the blade of Bionis itself.

"Sorry I'm late," Bearce grinned. "How was my entrance? Stunning, amazing, unbelievable? Actually, don't say anything. We all know the answer."

To Bearce's sides were two more men – one with dyed silver white hair and enormous, almost mechanical looking gauntlets… and the other holding a strange weapon that seemed to be a combination between sword and gun. This fellow wore a red bandanna and a blue shirt, and had long blonde hair.

The silver haired fellow was Aren, the mechanically armed hero of the long since destroyed Colony 5, and the blonde-haired man was Dickson, an enigmatic traveller who had ventured all over Bionis. These two were close friends of Bearce Reyen.

"You're kidding me," Aren muttered. "You're concerning yourself with dramatic entrances at a time like this? Can't say I'm surprised. Same old Bearce, different day."

"Yeah, me neither." Dickson lightly chuckled. "Well… looks like it's up to us to turn the tide, eh?"

Bearce grinned, and held the Monado over his shoulder.

"Fighting here's a risky move… one hell of a risky move." Aren spoke. "But we've – you've got the Monado. That's our trump card... and I'm sure it'll lead us to victory."

"That's right." Dickson added. "But don't think that we're useless just because we don't have that Monado! We'll see who scraps more of these machines, you two!"

Aren cracked his knuckles, then spoke once more.

"We've been ordered to pull back," Aren uttered. "Some of the others are retreating, but… no way I'm doing that. That'd be bringing shame to Colony 5. I'm Aren - and Aren doesn't run from his fights. I'm here on behalf of everyone from Colony 5."

"The hero of Colony 9, the hero of Colony 5… and you, Dickson! Just a wacky old traveller!" Bearce laughed, patting Dickson on the shoulder – to which Dickson chuckled.

"Well, let's just get this over with." Spoke Dickson, holding his blade – a Sabre, a weapon suited for both ranged and melee combat – by his side. "No more time to be goofing around... even for our Monado Wielder over here."

Bearce pointed the Monado to the hordes of Mechon ahead, to which Aren cracked his knuckles once more. It was then that Bearce stepped forth, Monado in the air pointing directly towards a large group of Mechon waiting ahead. "Dickson, Aren! We may die if we take a stand here…" Bearce yelled as he charged off into the hordes of Mechon, his companions by his side as he continued speaking. "But staying gives us the chance to change our destinies!"

Dickson chuckled lightly. "Haven't heard that one before…"

"Damn inspiring, Bearce. Now how about you give me that Monado, so I can show you how a real man fights?!" Aren boasted as he smashed his gauntlet-clad metallic arm into a M34 Honey Bee Unit… which didn't do anything to the M34. However, a small, green object was planted onto the Mechon M34.

Aren grinned, and grabbed hold of the M34 Honey Bee Unit… then promptly lobbed it into a horde of M46 Covert Killers. It was then that the green object on the M34 Honey Bee Unit detonated into a brilliant, green explosion of ether, destroying the M34 entirely and damaging the M46 units.

"Hurry it up, Bearce! You gonna Enchant us or what?" Dickson ordered, pointing his sabre at the horde of M46 units, his aim locked onto the spider-like Mechon, which moved closer and closer to the trio.

Bearce sighed.

"By the Gods, you're impatient… I was getting around to it!" Bearce held the Monado up in the air, the blade of which began to glow purple. "Monado… Enchant!"

A violet light washed over the area, and surrounded Bearce, Aren, and Dickson in a purple aura. This was the effects of Monado Enchant, one of the Monado's many 'Arts', and quite perhaps one of its most useful… as it allowed ordinary weapons to damage Mechon without a need for ether, or explosives.

Suddenly, Dickson fired off a powerful electrical bolt from his Sabre, which struck a single Mechon M46 Covert Killer and destroyed it.

"Eat this! Thunderbolt!"

The horde of the M46 Units was dwindling by the moment. They had sustained heavy damage from Aren's use of an M34 as an explosive, along with a Thunder Flash attack from Dickson, destroying one more. However, this wasn't the end of the assault on the M46 Units.

Using the Monado, Bearce cleaved through two of the M46 Units in one fell swoop, its blade of ether cleanly cutting the Mechon into two pieces. This left two other lone M46 Units. As Bearce's eyes drifted onto these two Mechon, he couldn't help but feel the slightest pity.

"That's two Mechon I've mashed! No problem. It's looking like we're gonna make that four!"

"Don't get cocky," Aren replied back as he forcefully bashed a M46 unit with his gauntlet – which audibly dented the metal on the damaged M46. Aren followed this up by grabbing hold of one of the M46 Covert Killer's spiderlike legs, then tearing it off. Aren dropped the unlucky M46, then kicked it away with his iron boot.

Aren then finished off the M46 Covert Killer by impaling it with its own, mechanical leg. "This is the best part of fighting Mechon, isn't it? It really lets you cut loose!"

Dickson laughed.

"You're a real beast, ain't ya? Now how about you let this old man show you how it's done?" Previously, Dickson had been staying back from the group of M46 – of which three damaged M46 Covert Killers remained. However, all of a sudden, Dickson rushed towards the M46 group, Sabre in hand…

His first attack was to slash down onto the ether damaged armour of one M46 unit, tearing through the metal and exposing the Mechon's insides. With his blade pierced into the metallic armour of the Mechon, he fired off an electrical round, his Thunder Flash art, within the Mechon's very insides. This attack fried the inside of the Mechon and left it an unmoving heap, on which electricity occasionally crackled.

"Right! Who else wants some?" Dickson spoke, as he faced the remaining M46 Covert Killer, his Sabre pointed directly at it, ready to fire off an ether round.

But it was then that the Monado's light blue blade of ether suddenly became a much darker blue as Bearce held the Monado up to the sky. The ether blade on the Monado grew ever larger, until it stood well over Bearce. Slowly, Bearce pointed the Monado towards his enemies. "Monado…" Bearce called out, as the ether particles from the Monado began to shoot forth at the remaining Mechon M46 rapidly, as if they were laser shots from an ether rifle. "Shooter!" The remaining M46 was bombarded with ether lasers from the Monado six times. This was enough to put it out of commission.

"See this power? I'm a one man army-"

Bearce's talking was interrupted as he caught sight of something in the distance. More and more Mechon were filtering into the snowy canyon Sword Valley by the minute… that was no surprise. M34s, M46s, M54s, and more… but they weren't a threat.

What was a threat, however, was the towering set of Mechon which approached slowly… but menacingly. These colossal, quadruped Mechon were feared by the Homs for their destructive power… they were the M104 Fortress Units, one of the strongest types of Mechon ever made.

In total, three of them approached from ahead, with dozens of smaller Mechon travelling by the sides of the M104 Fortress Units.

Bearce laughed.

"These giant things are no problem…! The bigger you are… the harder you fall!" Bearce yelled, as he started to charge off into the horde of Mechon once more – only to be stopped in place by Dickson's hand.

"Don't be stupid!" Dickson commanded. "You're throwing your life away if you're going to be reckless like that!"

Suddenly, Aren spoke up.

"Where are the other soldiers…?! Shouldn't they be firing off artillery?!" Aren yelled out as he turned to look over his shoulder… "That'd help right about now..."

Off in the distance was a Homs base of sorts, which had been shoddily constructed to serve as a defence in the ongoing Battle of Sword Valley. The Mechon Bearce, Dickson, and Aren were fighting hadn't reached that base… however, that wasn't to say no Mechon did.

What Aren saw was about ten Homs soldiers, lying dead in the snow. Several other soldiers were propped up against the artillery mortars, lifeless…

"... No..." He muttered. "What happened...?"

But what particularly stood out was a large, bulky Mechon, roughly twelve feet tall in size – and equipped with unique, shimmering green armour. In its hand it held an enormous axe, which was equipped with a spinning sawblade. Its eyes were piercing emerald, and looking directly at Aren.

Aren gasped. It was evident that this Mechon was very powerful, and was blocking off the trio's escape route… but, most importantly… it had seemingly slain a small base of Homs all by itself.

"A powerful Mechon's behind us! Keep your eyes open!" Aren ordered, as he began breathing deeply and concentrating.

But suddenly, the distinctive loud sound of a jet engine filled the air as the emerald-coloured Mechon flew towards the trio at high speeds, blowing away some of the snow that blanketed Sword Valley's ground.

"What is that Mechon…?" Bearce wondered aloud. "Doesn't matter… there's no Mechon the Monado can't destroy. I'll carve 'em up into scrap!"

The emerald Mechon flew overhead from the trio, much to their surprise. With a loud crash, it dropped itself onto the ground mere meters away from the three comrades. The first to act was Bearce, who rushed forwards, Monado in hand, while Aren charged with his Gauntlets at the ready. The two of them struck at the Faced Mechon, still affected by the effects of Monado Enchant…

The two of them were shocked to find that their attacks simply bounced off the foe. Visibly, there was no effect... though, the emerald Mechon's almost humanoid face was locked onto Bearce.

"This is new," Dickson grumbled underneath his breath. "Never heard of Mechon resisting the Monado… bloody hell. What're we gonna do about this?"

Dickson fired off a Thunder Flash at the Emerald Mechon, hoping to deal some damage. Though, not even ether attacks seemed to faze the Emerald Mechon, which simply raised its buzz-axe high into the air, which roared with anticipation, and surprisingly... the Emerald Mechon's mouth moved.

"Real shame about your soldier mates, 'ey? You'll have'ta forgive me…" The Emerald Mechon spoke with a gruff, mechanical voice. "But I just saw those little twits… couldn't help but make mincemeat outta 'em! Heh heh heh! Now I don't quite have a butcher's precision, but I reckon I didn't do that bad! Whaddaya think?"

"What are you?!" Bearce cried out, lost in confusion. "The Monado didn't work on you… and you're even speaking! Are you… are you even a Mechon?!"

The Emerald Mechon lowered its buzz axe, then motioned to the hordes of Mechon approaching the trio – and motioned for them to stop with its palm. Each of the Mechon then halted their advance.

"I'm Unit: EMERALD… a superior Mechon from the G.E.M Unit. Your pissy li'l Monandork or whatever won't work on my superior body. My buzz-axe'll work on your body, though! Real well, in fact! Hey, why don't I show ya? C'mon, mate – open wide! Here comes yer breakfast!"

"Superior Mechon… Come on! Are you actually gonna back that up or what?!" Bearce exclaimed as he, once again, tried to strike Unit: EMERALD with the Monado. This garnered the same results as last time… namely, nothing of note happened. However, Unit: EMERALD lunged forth with its arm, and immediately grabbed hold of Bearce's body. Unit: EMERALD's grip almost squeezed the life out of Bearce, who dropped the Monado onto the ground. It seemed as if Unit: EMERALD's interest didn't lie in the Monado, however.

Unit: EMERALD moved Bearce closer and closer to its metallic, almost inhuman face. As this was happening, Dickson fired off some more Thunder Flashes, but they were seemingly just as ineffective as any other attack. If they were damaging it, it certainly wasn't showing.

"Dammit… Bearce!" Aren cried out, as his gauntlet began crackling with more and more Ether energy… "We need to get out of here! As soon as you're free, we're getting the hell out of here!"

Unit: EMERALD moved its attention away from the captive Bearce in its unrelenting grip and instead stared directly at Aren.

"Do you think that'll work," Unit: EMERALD laughed… as it swung forth its buzz-axe towards Aren with its other arm in a horizontal swipe. "You're sorely mistaken… _idiot!_ "

The buzz-axe was en-route for Aren, who didn't have time to dodge the strike. The buzz-axe came closer and closer…

Aren panicked as the attack came ever closer to him, and he lashed out with a forceful punch to the buzz-axe's handle. The ether energy building in Aren's gauntlets erupted upon contact with the buzz-axe, which didn't cause any meaningful damage… but it managed to Break Unit: EMERALD's guard, causing it to accidentally let go of Bearce. This turn of events also allowed Aren to dodge out of the way of Unit: EMERALD's deadly sawblade axe.

Bearce was breathing heavily, winded from Unit: EMERALD's powerful grip. He immediately collapsed onto the ground, causing Aren and Dickson to both rush to his aid.

"I'm… I'm good to go! Let's get out of here!" Bearce quickly spoke, a distinct tone of fear in his voice as he scrambled for the Monado. "That thing couldn't have been a Mechon... it resisted the Monado!"

"Yeah, you'd better retreat, ya little pissants," Unit: EMERALD uttered. "I've been cutting up your soldier buddies. They should'a ran away - they ain't gonna win this battle! And I would kill you lot too, but… where's the fun in leaving no survivors, eh? I'd rather leave a few to tell the tale."

And with that, the trio of Bearce, Dickson, and Aren fled through the snowy expanse of Sword Valley. The Mechon didn't give chase, for they were still halted by Unit: EMERALD… who did not even follow the trio.

Yet, the Emerald Mechon yelled out one last thing as the team escaped. "We ain't supposed to be interferin' with anythin' else yet, those're our orders," Unit: EMERALD yelled. " Me and my mates'll be back on Bionis in about… a year, we reckon! See ya then! I'll bring ya something good... this buzzaxe! Gahahaha!"

The trio didn't utter a word as they made their escape… though, their defeat at Sword Valley would remain in their minds for the following year. Sword Valley was a risk taken that ended in failure… catastrophic failure. The Mechon had seized control of Sword Valley and Valak Mountain, and thousands of Homs troops lost their lives in the battle, while many of the survivors were ostracized as spineless cowards. Bearce, Aren, and even Dickson were among these people.

This was especially devastating to Bearce. Once hailed a hero, now reviled as a spineless fool who couldn't even make use of the legendary Monado, the blade that could slay the Mechon.

Bearce tossed away the blade, and from that day on… it was not seen again. But that would not be the last of that blade... for it would reemerge once more.

* * *

 ** _One Year On_**

 ** _Bionis' Right Calf, Colony 9_**

The world of Bionis was home to settlements known as Colonies. Each one was assigned a number… though not many remained after the loss at Sword Valley, and those that did remain usually were not in the best state.

A prime example of that would be Colony 9. Once a bustling, lively village… now a decrepit town of poverty and crime. Often, Colony 9 was a target for very small scale Mechon attacks - usually consisting of four or five Mechon. The Colony 9 defence force was in awful state, yet even they could still defeat these Mechon forces… with quite a few casualties, of course.

Certain residents of Colony 9 were forced to resort to unlawful means just to get by, leaving the colony a shell of its former self. People fondly remembered the colony's past, but few made effort to bring forth a brighter future for the colony. It just seemed impossible, especially for people who had trouble providing for themselves. One such person was the young, black-haired Marsh Artein, a youth who'd found himself residing in an abandoned house in the residential district.

Marsh didn't know many people, at least, positively. However, he and his best friend - a sickly Nopon named Lapa, whose once pristine red fur had become rough and tattered throughout the years, thanks to lack of care. This small Nopon had come down with quite the cough... and Marsh assumed the worst.

"Marmar," Lapa weakly muttered, wheezing through his breath. "You no need Nopon Potion for Lapa. Lapa is OK. Is best you don't get caught… if you get hurt, Lapa will be sad. Is more important you are safe, Marmar! Happy Marmar make happy Lapa!"

Marsh sighed, as he rested his head on a table. "Seriously, Lapa... shut up." Marsh spoke. "I'm going to get that Nopon Potion, no matter what… that's what friends do. Anyways... seeing you sick - it pains me so - I mean, it makes me feel bad."

The red furred Nopon hopped up on the table, then began to brush Marsh's messy hair with its hands.

"Marmar! You hair so messy… let me fix! Lapa always do that with brotherpon Kolaka... Kolaka get mad when Lapa do that, but Lapa know deep down that Kolaka love it!"

Marsh didn't say a word as Lapa brushed his hair carefully and tenderly. Marsh saw Lapa as his best friend, but really, it felt as if Lapa was his older brother… something Marsh wouldn't have ever expected to think. After all, Marsh was a Homs… and Lapa was a Nopon. The young Nopon was nineteen years of age - though one wouldn't be able to tell from looking at him, while Marsh was seventeen.

Marsh pondered over the Nopon Potion as Lapa fixed up his hair. ' _The Nopon Potion… I remember some traders coming into town with one for sale. But… they left a day ago. If I'm lucky, they should be over at Colony 8. I'll have to travel further than I've ever went before, but… this is for Lapa.'_

Lapa turned away from Marsh and wheezed once again.

"See? You're sick… I'm going to get you that Nopon Potion. You're not going to stop me, either… this is what I want, and it's what you need." Marsh informed as he stood up and headed for the door, of which he promptly grabbed the handle and forced the door open. "I'll be back soon… hopefully."

"Marmar - Marsh! Me OK!" Lapa assured, but Marsh simply ignored this. He knew that Lapa wasn't telling the truth. And with that, Marsh stepped out of the house and into the outdoors of Colony 9.

* * *

The very first thing that caught Marsh's eye was the sky above… the sun was out, and the sky was an azure blue, dotted with clouds. It was truly a beautiful day.

 _'It feels like ages since the sun was out… it's just been raining all week. Until today…!'_ Marsh thought to himself, still looking up at the magnificent sky that hanged above him.

As Marsh was lost in thought, several Colony 9 civilians walked by, who glanced quizzically at Marsh. He didn't notice this.

 _'Alright. If I want that Nopon Potion, those traders are probably at Colony 8. And to get there, I'll have to travel through Spiran Pass. I'll have to be careful, though. I hear that place's pretty dangerous… but I'll manage, for Lapa's sake.'_

Spiran Pass was one of the two areas that allowed residents of Colony 9 to leave the area. The second was a sprawling cave system dubbed the Tephra Cave, but due to a rockslide, Tephra Cave had become a restricted area, for it was much too dangerous for travellers.

Marsh then followed along one of Colony 9's several roads to a scenic location known as Outlook Park. In the past, Outlook Park was quite the date spot… though as of late, less and less people paid visits to Outlook Park.

Marsh theorized that this was due to the entrance to Spiran Pass being nearby. The entrance showed up overnight, with nay an explanation as to why. Creatures from Spiran Pass would leak out of the cavern system and into Outlook Park.

Nonetheless, Marsh arrived at Outlook Park. Marsh didn't even spare a glance out at the Colony from the park… he had a mission, and that was to enter Spiran Pass and reach Colony 8, retrieve the Nopon Potion – and deliver it to his Nopon friend Lapa.

Marsh didn't know how much time he had, but he thought it would be best to get to Colony 8 as safely, and quickly as he could. Despite this, however… some people were nearby, and in the middle of a conversation. Marsh couldn't help but spare a little time to eavesdrop.

The two people having a conversation were a man and a woman. The man was clad in a dark red uniform, with a wide brimmed scarlet red hat and a curved blade strapped to his back. As for the woman – she was hooded, and clad in a robe decorated with very intricate golden patterns.

Neither the man or the woman were familiar to Marsh, but that didn't matter. Marsh was curious to know what two people like them would be talking about, for they stood out quite a bit, especially in a town like Colony 9.

"So the Order's got everything under control, yeah? I've gotta make this clear, though... my orders aren't suggestions. They're orders! You'd best be listening to them, or else... well, you're not gonna be making me a happy chappy, alright?" The man in red ordered with a confident voice. "Heed my words, woman!"

The hooded woman scoffed. "We're your allies, not your personal lapdogs. Remember that." The hooded woman hissed back. "The Bionite Order isn't just some-"

The man in red had taken notice of Marsh listening in on the conversation, to which the man in red hushed the woman, then slowly, but menacingly approached Marsh.

 _'This guy gives me really bad vibes… I can just tell he means business. I should watch my step around him.'_ Marsh thought to himself. _'He sounded a little goofy, but...'_

"Hi!" Marsh enthusiastically belted out, faking a smile and waving at the man in red. He stepped closer and closer to the man in red, as well. "I'm sorry to listen in! I'm just looking for Colony 8. I was hoping you'd say something about it."

The faintest hint of a smile crept onto the man in red's face as he eyed Marsh, up and down.

"Colony 8? It's just that way. Well, you're gonna have to take a hike through the cave systems, of course." The man in red pointed to the cavern entrance to Spiran Pass, which was a mere few feet away. "If I were you, I'd hire a guard. You don't look like you're a capable fighter... and don't think you'll be hiring me, either. I've got real stuff I wanna be doing, instead of babysitting, you know?"

The man in red paused.

"Though you don't look like you're rich enough to hire anybody, either. That's Colony 9 nowadays for you... kinda sad."

Suddenly, the woman in the hood turned to Marsh, revealing her yellow eyes and somewhat grey hair. With a seething tone, she spoke. "Leave us to our discussion, Homs. This doesn't concern you."

 _'No… it doesn't concern me, but maybe it will someday. So let's see if I can pry out any more information.'_

"Say, I overheard something about a 'Bionite Order'." Marsh continued faking cheeriness as he asked. "Is that some group I can join? Like, say... a club? If it's a book club, then I'll definitely have to give it a look. I love books..."

With a scowl, the woman in the hood glared. "A Homs, and one from this pool of filth? Pretend you heard nothing, else you'll have an oh so unfortunate accident."

"I see! I wouldn't want that... Well, in that case… I'll be off! Have fun with your 'Bionite Order' club!" Marsh waved as he swiftly walked over to the entrance of Spiran Pass. What was this Bionite Order, though? Nevertheless, it didn't matter, at least at the moment.

What mattered was securing the Nopon Potion.

Marsh stepped into the cavernous Spiran Pass calmly, his fists curled… and ready to fight whatever could possibly wait within the Spiran Pass.

 _'With all that aside... Bring it on, Bionis. You're not going to stop me from getting that Nopon Potion.'_


	2. Spiran Pass and the Gunner

_**Outside Colony 9, Spiran Pass**_

The sound of dripping water, along with Marsh's footsteps loudly reverbed throughout the caverns of Spiran Pass. Marsh noticed small drops of water were dripping from the ceiling… he discovered this due to a droplet of water falling directly onto his head.

An unusual, glowing moss decorated the rocky ground. This was something known as Glowmoss, which was apparently quite common within Spiran Pass, at least according to travellers from Colony 8.

Other than that, there wasn't much to be seen in the cavern so far. Marsh was in an average sized area, which was connected via a man-made tunnel shortly ahead, complete with a wooden door and a sign.

This was new. Marsh had no recollection of a door in Spiran Pass. With curiosity, Marsh investigated the sign that was to the side of the door, which was written messily in white.

'Spiran Pass – To Colony 8. Be wary! Spiran Pass is home to several dangerous species of creatures, such as Brogs and Vangs.'

It wasn't anything Marsh didn't know already, that was for sure. He knew full well that monsters lied within, so… Marsh forced the wooden door open slowly. And as the door opened, something metallic fell to the rocky ground with an audible clang. Marsh immediately investigated this strange noise.

Marsh spotted what appeared to be a metal sword lying on the ground… and immediately, he knew what it was for. It was a weapon, for travellers who enter Spiran Pass. Or at least, that's what it was to Marsh. Was it left there for any travellers, or did someone leave their sword there on accident? Marsh didn't care either way… it was his now.

 _'I'll use this to get through Spiran Pass, then I'll sell it to some random person back in Colony 9... it's a win-win scenario. I don't have a need for some big sword. I'm not some swashbuckling explorer who travels all through Bionis, nor am I a warrior who fights in things like the Battle of Sword Valley. I'm just some starved kid from a broken down village. All I need are knives… and my wit.'_

Marsh wasn't too used to swords, and wasn't quite strong enough to hold it with one hand, so he held it in two – then began to walk further into the small tunnel, which echoed with the sound of dripping water, but not much else.

A few small lizards darted across the ground, which Marsh recognized. These creatures were dubbed 'Shin Newts', and were an infamous 'delicacy' among Nopon. Marsh distinctly remembered the day in which Lapa tried one out. It wasn't the best day for Lapa – eating the Shin Newts left Lapa sick for three days.

In the span of two minutes, Marsh reached the other side of the tunnel and ended up in a small, circular cavern, with a stairway visible on the other side of the room. The room was quiet – Marsh couldn't hear a sound as he slowly stepped into the room.

Marsh then looked up and nearly gasped. The sign from earlier warned travellers of Vangs, a moderately dangerous creature which lurked in caves and reacted to noise… And a group of three Vangs were situated, right above Marsh. He knew that if he made too loud a noise, he'd risk waking the Vang colony and earning their ire.

Marsh moved as slowly as he could muster, careful not to make a sound as he made his way to the stone stairs, which presumably would take him closer to Colony 8.

 _'I really can't afford to mess up now… for Lapa's sake.'_ Marsh thought, clutching his sword close to him. _'From what I've read in my books… Vangs can turn into people, called vampires. I wonder if that's real, but… I'm not taking any chances. I don't want them to suck my blood any time soon…'_

With his eyes locked onto the three Vangs hanging from the ceiling, Marsh set his leg onto the stairway. But this proved to be a mistake, for he had all his attention focused on the set of Vangs. He wasn't paying attention to where, or what he stepped on.

Marsh felt something underneath his leg, but didn't pay any heed to it at first. But as his foot pressed down on it… the sickening sound of a branch snapping in half filled the air.

The Vangs roared to life, their wings suddenly beginning to beat cacophonously. With a gasp, Marsh broke into a sprint and ascended the stairs as quickly as he could muster. As he did this, he noticed the strange amount of branches, which somehow found their way into a cavern. But Marsh had no time to think about that… after all, the Vangs were in hot pursuit.

Marsh rushed through more open caverns, the majority of which were featureless and devoid of anything of note. Every once in a while, Marsh would look over his shoulder – only to see the Vangs growing ever closer to him, their wings beating furiously, and their little mouths screeching out, seemingly thirsting for Marsh's blood.

And then, fate would have it that Marsh found himself at what looked to be a dead end.

 _'Really…?! This isn't good.'_

However, another analysis proved Marsh's assumption wrong. It wasn't a dead end, in theory. There were two higher up tunnels, one of which had a ladder allowing Marsh to climb up to it… while the other tunnel was far too high up for Marsh to even think of reaching it.

 _'So… it's a dead end after all…'_ Marsh thought to himself, his blade at his side. _'In that case… it looks like I've got no but to take up arms, huh. Not my strong point, but...'_

The three Vangs all rushed at Marsh, each of them eager to dig into him with their fangs. Yet this attack was largely predictable and allowed Marsh to simply duck underneath them. It didn't take long for the Vangs to perform the same rush attack as they had done so previously, which Marsh predicted once again. He ducked underneath the Vangs, just as he'd done before.

 _'These guys aren't so tough,'_ Marsh thought. _'They keep falling for it! How dumb can you be…?'_

The first Vang swooped at Marsh, which he ducked underneath for the third time. And that was when the second and third Vangs rushed Marsh, who was still ducked down with a powerful bite on his arm, drawing blood. Marsh immediately covered this stinging wound with his arm. "Dammit…"

Marsh panicked. His strategy of simply ducking underneath the Vang's aerial strikes was countered… what could he do now? Marsh let the Vangs fly towards him, then wildly slashed at the bat-like creatures as they approached. But the Vangs were small, and avoided these strikes easily.

"Stay still!" Marsh cried out in frustration.

The Vangs struck at Marsh once again, this time biting into his left arm and shoulder painfully. But, seemingly out of nowhere… an unfamiliar voice rang out.

"If you're fighting something fast, you've gotta concentrate."

Marsh couldn't identify whether the voice belonged to a man or woman, but he wasn't particularly focused on that. "That's not as easy as you make it sound... in a scenario like this, it's pretty hard to do that!" He replied.

Marsh continued slashing wildly with his blade, but to no avail.

"… I've never even bothered with a sword and I'd do better than you. Concentrate!" The unknown voice advised.

Marsh thought it would be best to heed the mysterious voice's advice. If he tried his best to concentrate, perhaps his attacks would land? It certainly was an idea with merit to it, not that he had many other options. The first Vang swooped once again, repeating their pattern over and over. Marsh had an idea of their pattern and how they operated. Just as Marsh thought, the first Vang swooped, to bait him into ducking. That's when the second and third Vangs would attack.

The second and third Vangs were flying towards Marsh. As predicted... they were heading straight for him, wings beating all the while. _'Alright… let's go!'_ Marsh signaled to himself in his mind.

Marsh slashed at the second Vang – and this time, his strike connected! The Vang was sent crashing to the stone floor below, while the third Vang changed its route to get away from Marsh temporarily.

"That worked!" Marsh cried out victoriously, his spirit renewed. Slashing wildly didn't gain results, but a single powerful, concentrated strike – it was perfect!

The remaining two Vangs in the air hovered in place, their wings beating furiously as their seemingly locked their eyes on Marsh. It seemed as if they were waiting for an opportunity… However, the Vang lying on the ground stood itself up, and then it took into the air, where it hovered among the other two Vangs…

And then it let out a distinctive ear-rending screech.

"That cry…" The strange voice from earlier rang out. "Just get outta there - those Vangs are calling up a strong one!"

 _'A strong one…'_ Marsh thought. _'You know, I was only just getting confident with how this fight was going. If these are weak Vangs, then that's-"_

"Screeeeee!" Erupted another Vang from high above, to which Marsh adjusted his gaze. The Vang looked the same as the other Vang, but what set it apart from the nother was its size. The newly arrived Vang was enormous. Marsh assumed it was the leader of the Vang, the toughest of the Vang. He was struggling enough with the three weak Vang.

"Just sit back and chill! That's my target – the Unfettered Ricon! It's what we call... a Unique Monster!" The voice spoke out. Soon afterwards, a figure jumped down from the higher cliff.

They held a pistol in each hand, one red, one blue. They were dressed in a gray jacket adorned with blue jewelry, and wore a grey hood. Short, seemingly dyed grey hair was slightly visible from outside the person's hood. In a flash, the hooded person pointed their left pistol directly at one of the smaller three Vangs watching Marsh, and with the click of a trigger – an ether round was fired. It connected in an instant, and caused the Vang to fall lifelessly to the ground.

"One," The hooded gunner calmly uttered, a small grin on their face as they aimed towards another Vang with their right hand pistol, along with realigning their left pistol's aim towards the third small Vang.

The hooded gunner pressed down on the triggers with a click. The sound of two ether shots being loosed rang out through the air. "Two, and three." The hooded gunner finished. "Three kills in three shots. Pretty good, huh?"

"That's… you're pretty good." Marsh admired. "Maybe I'll have to give one of those pistols a shot?"

The hooded gunner scoffed. "Hell no! One pistol isn't enough!" The hooded gunner answered back. "Besides, you'd probably miss nine outta ten shots, let's be real."

The enormous Vang from earlier, the Unfettered Ricon cried out with what Marsh could only assume was rage. The Unfettered Ricon's three comrades had been slain with little to no effort… surely that would strike some fear into its heart?

"Alright, sit back and check this out! I won't get hit once –" Boasted the Hooded Gunner, as the Unfettered Ricon suddenly swooped forth out of the blue, at surprisingly high speed. The Hooded Gunner didn't even have time to react to this sudden attack.

The Hooded Gunner didn't say anything as the powerful Vang smashed directly into their body and sent them flying into the ground. The Hooded Gunner had been Toppled over.

Marsh sighed. This person was skilled, but… maybe a little too cocky.

Marsh rushed over to the Hooded Gunner, and held his hand down to them. "You took that like a chump."

"You don't know how tough this thing is. I need to let it get a good hit on me to make it look tough!" The Hooded Gunner quickly spoke, with a frown. "You don't need to help me up, either… that attack didn't hurt. I'm fine, alright!"

Marsh rolled his eyes.

"Just get up. I can tell that hurt." Marsh replied as the Hooded Gunner grabbed his arm and got to their feet.

"See? We're not in any danger. We're just talking like nothing's really happening." The Hooded Gunner muttered as the Unfettered Ricon flew towards them, intending to strike at them with another powerful swoop… but this timed, the Hooded Gunner dodged to the side with incredible ease.

Marsh charged at the Unfettered Ricon with his sword from behind, then delivered a powerful slash angled downwards to the enormous Vang. With a cry of pain, the Unfettered RIcon focused its attention on the new biggest threat it perceived to itself… that being Marsh. With its fangs bared, the Vang prepared to charge…

"Fusillade!" The Hooded Gunner yelled out, their pistols both focused on the enormous Vang. In a split second, a blue ether round was loosed from the left pistol – then one from the right. This was followed up by another ether round from the left, then from the right.

Marsh wasn't entirely sure why the Hooded Gunner yelled out 'Fusillade', but... he let it pass. If his savior wanted to scream out random words, then all the more power to them. Who knows? For a brief moment, Marsh entertained the possibility of this Fusillade being the Hooded Gunner's signature move, but then discarded the thought.

These four shots directly struck the Vang in the torso, making it fly into the air and let loose a shrill scream that filled the cavern. It was noisy to Marsh, but he wasn't affected.

The Hooded Gunner, however, swore.

"You're kidding me…! Why's it gotta weaken my ether attacks…!"

Marsh was more than a little confused. How did the Vang weaken the gunner's ether attacks? It didn't do anything but scream… more importantly, how did the gunner use ether? Were they able to… manipulate it? It was rumoured that there were people naturally capable of manipulating ether. Though Marsh hadn't even met one, nor did he know if they existed.

However, Marsh felt as if he was forgetting something. Perhaps there was a reasonable explanation to all this?

"You bloody bozo," The gunner complained to Marsh. "You missed your big opportunity! The Vang was wide open! Were you off in your own little world?!"

It was true. The Unfettered Ricon had flown down from the cavern's ceiling, directly into reach of Marsh's blade. He'd lost himself in thought… _in the middle of a fight._

Marsh nodded. "Yeah, I guess."

Then, the Unfettered Ricon flew forth towards the Gunner, fangs bared and ready to perform its swooping attack once again. Marsh felt as if that was all the Vangs did, aside from the weird scream Art it performed.

The Unfettered Ricon was focused on the Hooded Gunner, and seemed to be heading for them.

 _'The Vang's going to head straight for the gunner,'_ Marsh mapped out the Vang's route in his mind. _'I might be able to hit it… I'm right in between. It's time to focus…'_

With a piercing cry, the Unfettered Ricon flew directly to the gunner. Marsh didn't dare move his gaze from the enormous Vang, his sword at the ready… A second passed as the Unfettered Ricon hovered directly over Marsh's blade for a moment. Then, Marsh slashed upwards, into the enormous bat-like creature.

This upwards slash was surprisingly powerful, for an amateur like Marsh. The Unfettered Ricon was sent hurtling through the air, but not in flight. No, in free fall.

It didn't take long for gravity to play its part, and for the Unfettered Ricon to come crashing down onto the ground with a desperate cry.

"… You were having trouble even hitting this thing earlier! How'd you hit that hard?!" The Hooded Gunner asked in shock, stepping closer and closer to the unconscious Unique Monster, the Unfettered Ricon.

"I-it's definitely dead! Was that a fluke?!" The gunner questioned, looking directly at Marsh, their bright blue eyes clearly visible. "It's gotta be. You weren't doing so crash hot before, so..."

"Probably… I hope not, though." Marsh replied. "I'm not sure how I did that… I guess it was a critical hit?"

The hooded gunner smiled. "Critical hit? That sounds like something out of a book."

"Does it? Do you like reading, too? It's a term from my favourite book, called _Wanderer's Quest._ It's a story about a wanderer-"

"Geez…! Are you calling me a bookworm or something?! The gunner spoke back, now frowning. "I hate reading! I only ever read when my parents force me to read crap about-"

Suddenly, Marsh laughed. He couldn't shake off the feeling the gunner was what was known to him as a closet bookworm…

"Your parents force you to read? I can see how that'd turn you off from reading. Not bad stuff to do, though."

"Reading would ruin my tough look, you know."

"… I'm not going to lie. If you were going for a 'tough look', you had it nailed right until the thing knocked you over. Then any hope of looking tough crashed and burned." Marsh uttered. "You're a good fighter, though. I don't think I'd still be alive if it weren't for you. So, thanks… mysterious gunner."

"I'd say you've got some nerve, but… being a great fighter's like the same thing as being tough, right?" The gunner added. "Also… mysterious gunner? That's lame as hell. Just call me Sariel."

Marsh scratched his head.

"Sariel? That's a weird name. You're definitely not from Colony 9. You from Colony 8? I'm heading there right now, actually."

The hooded gunner, Sariel, looked up to the higher areas of the cavern, then looked around the rest of the cave. Their eyes looked at the piles of sticks, piled up on the cavern floor… the same sticks that served to attract the Vangs to Marsh.

"I didn't notice those sticks… it's a nasty thing to do, though. Vangs are attracted to noise, and sticks are pretty noisy." Sariel muttered, then readjusted their gaze to the nearby ladder, leading to another area of the tunnel. "But anyways… you're heading to Colony 8? You're pretty gutsy to enter this place like you are. Those weak Vangs nearly beat you. Either you're crazy or stupid. Maybe both."

Marsh looked at Sariel, a blank expression on his face.

"Either crazy or stupid? No, I'm both. But I don't care… I'm here to get my friend a Nopon Potion." Marsh replied calmly as he looked around the cavern he was presently in. "My friend… he's pretty sick. So, that's why I'm here."

"Ah… I see." Sariel answered, in an almost completely different tone from before. Their tone was now more refined and clear… and their choice of words proved quite different. "In that case, are you not seeking out merchants? I _did_ see a group of Homs Merchants head through these cave systems not too long ago. Shall we head to Colony 8?"

"We?" Marsh inquired, confused. "You're coming along? I'm not going to refuse, but…"

Sariel grinned. "Good. To be quite honest with you, I was not going to accept a refusal from you, unnamed swordsman."

Marsh looked to the side, embarrassed.

"Geez… you don't need to be so formal all of a sudden, you know. It's kind of throwing me off… and my name's Marsh, not 'unnamed swordsman'… mysterious gunner."

* * *

And with that, the duo headed further into the Spiran Pass, chatting all the while. They climbed up the ladder to another set of tunnels within the Spiran Pass, and eventually ended up at a crossroads. Though, something was off…

"Yo, Marsh." Sariel suddenly piped up, out of the blue as they began to point at the two paths that stood in front of them. There was a tunnel on the left, and a tunnel on the right. "See that over there?" Marsh noticed that Sariel was pointing to the tunnel on the left, which was covered in falling rocks… as if a blast had went off.

"That wasn't there before. That's a new path. You wanna check it out?" Sariel asked. "It wasn't there before… maybe the Homs group headed this way? Is it worth a check?"

Marsh nodded.

"That sounds reasonable enough… so, let's take a look. Who knows what could be down here, though."

"Scared? I'd bet a monster or two lives here." Sariel noted.

Marsh shrugged calmly, then yawned, blade still in hand.

"No… I was thinking more along the lines of stuff I could sell. I'm pretty poor." Marsh admitted, as he then began to walk into the apparently newly opened cavern system.

The duo both began to enter the cave that seemingly appeared out of nowhere, their every footstep echoing throughout the cavern. It wasn't the only sound that rang out through the cave, though.

Marsh stopped to a dead halt, and so did Sariel. Neither of the duo said a word and instead listened out… the two of them could hear something! But what exactly was it?

It was hard to identify the sound, as it was very quiet. In order to find out what it was, the duo began to move further and further into the winding, barren tunnels. Sariel had estimated that monsters lived within, but… so far, there wasn't any sign of life within the cave. Not even Shin Newts… or even moss. Just stone, as far as the eye could see.

The atmosphere proved to be quite eerie to both Marsh and Sariel. The sound grew more audible and audible as the duo headed further and further into the caverns… and it sounded as if someone, or something, was crying further on in the caves.

Marsh felt a shiver run down his spine, but despite this… he continued heading on into the cavern, alongside Sariel. He was a little curious about the source of the noise. And, if it were the merchants with the Nopon Potion… then Marsh's job would grow far easier. It would be far too easy to simply nab the potion, free of charge, then head back and give it to Lapa.

 _'… I can't wait to see Lapa's face when I come back with the potion. He'd be pretty happy.'_

Marsh glanced over at his new ally, Sariel as the two of them continued walking further into the Spiran Pass tunnels.

 _'Sariel… what a weird person. I don't even know if they're a guy or a girl. But they're really good with those dual pistols. I'm not sure why they're helping me out, though. I don't want to think they're planning on shooting me in the back, but… that's what Colony 9 conditions me to think. People get close to you for what you offer, then discard you like yesterday's trash.'_

Marsh sighed.

 _'I don't want to think it. I want to consider Sariel my friend, but it's not that easy. I can't ever let my guard down around other people… doing that's a huge risk. I can trust Lapa, but not really anyone else… but I hope that changes someday.'_

"What's up?" Sariel questioned, seemingly having noticed Marsh glancing over at them. "I've got ideas about what that weird sound is, but nothing concrete."

"Nah, it's not that. But about that noise… it sounds like something's crying, doesn't it?" Marsh asked.

Sariel gasped.

"I-I didn't even think of that! Come on! We've gotta help out!"

Like a rocket, Sariel dashed off, dual pistols in hand down through the tunnel, each and every footstep echoing through the cave loud and clear.

 _'Sounds like Sariel wants to help out… I'm just here for the Nopon Potion. Well, at any rate… they sound like a better person than me. They're even helping me out, too.'_

Then, Marsh rushed forth, after Sariel through the tunnel system.

* * *

"Marsh. I may need your help here." Sariel quietly admitted, looking to the ground nervously. Marsh wasn't sure what Sariel could need help with, however.

"Hey, I'm an awful fighter. I'm not going to be able to do much." Marsh spoke back, as he looked into the area behind Sariel.

He didn't see any monsters at all. Just one Homs sitting on the ground, his hands on his head as tears streamed down his face, and a patterned bag by his side.

"Where's the monst-"

"There is not a monster… I am just not used to talking with Homs like him. You're better at it, so talk to him in my stead." Sariel calmly said, still looking at the ground. "I'm sorry."

"You think I'm good at talking with people? You couldn't be more wrong, but... I guess I'll give it a try."

Sariel smiled. "Thanks, Marsh! I was really worried there, actually… my forte's fighting, not talking. That's where you come in."

 _'Sariel's tone changes like day to night… it weirds me out.'_ Marsh thought to himself as he stepped into the room with the crying Homs, then promptly looked around.

"I lost control…" The Homs on the ground muttered.

Off to the cavern wall was something that struck his eye. It was a decently large object coloured red, with faint blue streaks running across it. It resembled some form of sword.

"Don't touch that…" The Homs cried. "Don't!"

Marsh approached it, ignoring the Homs crying in the centre of the room. He then grabbed hold of the strange, red blade…

"You mean this?" Marsh held up the blade as he looked at the Homs. "What's wrong with this? It's weird. Looks pretty valuable-" Suddenly, out of the blue… an odd sensation washed over Marsh. His vision faded to black...


	3. A So Called Evil Sword

_Thanks for the review, guest person. I'm glad it's been fun to read - this has been the first thing I've posted online, so I've been a little worried about its quality or readability._

 _As for what the story is, exactly, it'd probably be best for me to clarify... because, admittedly, these first few chapters might not be doing the best job of showing it._

 _This is intended to be a prequel, and plays off something that's mentioned in the game. The world of Xenoblade Chronicles is in a cycle of destruction and rebirth, and this story is intended to play off that concept. This is one of those cycles, taking place prior to Xenoblade Chronicles._

 _Similar events to the original game are happening and going to happen, but some of them undergo different results, leading to different futures. For instance, the Battle of Sword Valley is lost here... which leads to all sorts of differences from the game.  
_

 _Some characters and locations will still appear from the original game, but with changes. Sword Valley's still around, for instance, but it's a little colder. And, a few of the characters are around - but many of them have vastly different roles. As for the new characters - many of them are intended to have some similarities to existing characters.  
_

 _Thank you for the review, again! I've enjoyed writing this, but I enjoy people enjoying this even more._

* * *

 _ **Space...?**_

 _"It would seem that you've reunited with the Monado once again."_

Marsh's eyes opened to a stellar, starry background… he could see space, along with several unknown planets floating throughout the vast cosmic void. Marsh didn't understand how he had ended up where he had…

 _"Ah, forgive me… this would be your first encounter with the Monado, if memory serves. You've only heard whispers of the blade, haven't you? The name means nothing to you at this moment in time."_

It was then that Marsh heard a calm voice. Immediately, Marsh gazed around the area for the source of the voice, but… all he could see was an enormous black void, with no end in sight – and gargantuan planets of various colours. There didn't seem to be anyone else nearby.

Marsh sighed. Once again, he could _hear_ a voice, but not _see_ the speaker. He felt a particular sense of déjà vu at this… first Sariel, now this?

 _"I can tell you are confused, but… eventually, all your questions shall be answered. However, that time is not now. Instead… I must teach you of the Monado."_

A thought rushed through Marsh's head, though it was mostly unrelated to what the voice had to say. What Marsh wondered was if he was able to talk in the environment he was in.

"Weird place," Marsh spoke. "Never seen anywhere like it… I think."

 _"I… I see."_ The mystical voice uttered, sounding at least a little surprised. _"The Monado is a mythical blade that-"_

"Allows you to change fate… kind of like a script." Marsh interrupted. "I know some stuff."

 _"This is unexpected."_ The voice replied, paused, then resumed speaking. _"But, yes – the Monado allows you to alter fate. Every living being has a destined fate, and that is where they will end up. The only thing that can redirect them from that fate… is the Monado."_

It was impressive to Marsh. A blade that could change fate – he'd heard that the Monado was capable of that, but he wasn't quite sure where he'd heard it.

So did that mean that the blade Marsh had picked up – was that the mythical Monado? The sword of the Bionis, and the weapon Bearce used to fight the Mechonis forces… even though he lost in the end.

 _"This blade will allow you to change the future. Wield it – and alter the fate that our world is locked within. Go forth, Marsh Artein… wield your blade once again. Change the future. This is your destiny."_

And with that, Marsh's vision restored…

* * *

 _ **Inside the Old House**_

Though Marsh found himself in a completely different location. He was in a familiar house – the same abandoned house that he and Lapa had made residence inside.

Standing in front of Marsh was a red furred Nopon, who was bouncing up and down happily with joy. Marsh could see that he was holding two items in his hands… the same red sword from earlier, though it had changed shape to be far smaller and lithe, like a larger knife of sorts… and in the other hand was a potion that Marsh knew not the significance of. Was it the Nopon Potion? Marsh was unsure.

 _'I need to check… is this actually the Nopon Potion? I don't know how I got it… or how I got here.'_ But, try as he might – Marsh was unable to control his body. Instead, he walked closer and closer to Lapa, potion in hand… Marsh tried to speak, but to no avail. It was like his body was being controlled! Just like the Homs from earlier spoke of…

 _'Dammit…! If this keeps up… Lapa could die! I'm an idiot…!'_

And then, it happened. An enormous, blood red laser ripped through the walls of the house in a flash. It was headed directly for Lapa…

In moments, it struck the red furred Nopon, Lapa - sending him careening into a nearby wooden wall with a sickening crunch. The young Nopon fell to the ground with a whimper. _'What?!'_ Marsh thought. _'Please tell me… please tell me this is a dream!'_

Marsh's vision automatically shifted over to the unconscious Nopon on the wooden floor, which he quickly placed a hand onto… _'Lapa! Please…'_

Lapa didn't seem to be breathing. _'No… no!'_

 _'I'll find whoever did this,'_ Thought Marsh, a mind full of anger. _'I'll find them, and I'll make them regret every single waking day. I won't kill them, but… I'll make that bastard wish they were dead! If you hurt Lapa… you're a real no good bastard, and that's coming from a no good bastard themselves…'_

Then, Marsh's vision faded to black once more…

* * *

 _ **Spiran Pass**_

Marsh found himself in the same cavern he'd located the red blade in – Spiran Pass. Marsh was crouched down, on his knees – the red blade in hand, though it felt distinctly different.

 _'What was I here for, again… I'm feeling a little dizzy. Those were some weird dreams… that first one was unbelievable, but the second one… it felt almost kind of real.'_

"You idiot…!" A desperate voice cried out from nearby – it was the Homs from earlier. "That evil sword's taken control of you, hasn't it?! You're gonna try to kill me now, aren't you?! Stay away, demon!"

Marsh raised his head to look at the Homs, who was still crying on the ground.

"The heck are you talking about?" Marsh asked, an eyebrow raised and a serious expression on his face. "You're saying this sword's taking me over? I feel fine. Maybe it's you who's the idiot? I mean, look at you."

"What's that supposed to mean…?!" The crying Homs yelled. "But that sword…! When you held it, it suddenly changed shape! It looked like some sword, now it looks like some… sword-knife! What did you do?! That didn't happen when I held it!"

Marsh pulled his palm over his face and shook his head.

"You're delusional, and also, I'm checking through your stuff. Better hope you have a Nopon Potion." Marsh calmly spoke as he approached the small patterned bag at the side of the Homs, fists curled.

Marsh reached his hand through the bag, and pulled out various goods. Most of them were materials, which Marsh recognized fairly easily as a thief – and a seller of questionably gained goods.

"These are Dance Apples, and these are Cool Potatoes," Marsh muttered to himself as he pulled the goods out of the bag and placed them onto the ground. His hands deftly found their way onto a very familiar, chain-like item. "Blue Chains? You've got some good stuff here. I'd nab it, but… I don't have any need for it."

A few more objects remained in the patterned bag, owned by the Homs. In particular, two large, jar like objects stuck out to Marsh.

"You're… you're a honest to Zanza prick!" The Homs yelled loudly, as he glared daggers into Marsh.

"Sorry, but it's only fair. Me and my friend in Colony 9 starve, you guys practically swim in your wealth-" Marsh complained with a biting tone, as he pulled out one of the jars, not paying attention to what was within.

Marsh didn't think as he opened the jar. He didn't even know what was inside, but he presumed it was the Nopon Potion he'd been looking for. He knew that the Nopon Potion had a distinct smell – described as 'foresty', and 'like Makna Forest'. But that didn't particularly matter to Marsh, especially as he heard an odd, buzzing noise emanating from the jar he'd just opened. A feeling of distinct dread washed over Marsh as he slowly directed his gaze to the now open jar…

It was clearly not a Nopon Potion. No, it was something far, far worse. It was a bug-catching jar. And inside was one of Colony 9's infamous Giant Hornets, infamous for their enormous size… and their equally gargantuan stinger, which was said to hurt for months if you were stung. The things were even so large that any flower they sat on would be crushed.

"D-damn it!" Marsh cursed. "Why didn't I pay more attention!?"

The Giant Hornet immediately flew out of the jar and slowly flew over to Marsh… "Get away from me! I hate you things!" Marsh flinched as the Giant Hornet grew closer, causing him to drop the red blade in his hands, the Monado, to the ground.

Marsh dodged to the side… and heard the distinctive sound of the nearby Homs laughing heartily. He even saw the Homs pointing to Marsh… which only made his blood boil. "Karma!" The Homs chuckled. "Street rats like you from Colony 9 need to learn to be happy with what you've got! Stealing is for degenerates, like you! And thieves simply deserve their just punishment - death!"

Marsh was mad, but… the hornet was preventing him from replying. He was dodging around the room, trying to get away from the hornet. This was difficult, as the hornet almost seemed to be drawn to him.

Suddenly, Marsh made a mad dash to the patterned bag and hurriedly reached his hand in, pulling out the first thing he could… the other jar-like object, most likely the Nopon Potion. That is… if the merchant even had the potion. "I'm too pissed off to really say anything, so… I'm outta here." Marsh waved half-heartedly at the Homs as he darted out of the small cavern and away from the Giant Hornet.

But he'd forgotten something, or someone. And that someone was what he immediately crashed into as he sped out the cavern.

"Dammit, watch it!" Sariel grumbled, as they stood tall, despite Marsh running into them at high speed. Though, Marsh wasn't exactly the strongest fellow – that may just have explained it.

"I forgot about you," Marsh muttered as he stepped back. "But I'm done here! That Homs isn't worth my time, this sword's weird as hell – and there's a giant hornet flying about. Not anything I want a part in."

Sariel's grey hair was slightly messed up from the crash, which they promptly fixed… even though their hair was only slightly visible underneath their hood. This brought a question to Marsh's mind… why did Sariel need a hood? Were they not proud of something? Were they someone being hunted down, and they had to hide their most distinctive trait?

Marsh's imagination ran wild with possibilities for a brief few moments, but this was disturbed by Marsh speed-walking further through the cavern path they'd previously ventured through. Shortly after, Marsh shifted his gaze to the jar-like object he held in his right hand. It was a brown, potion-like thing, with indecipherable etches in the Nopon language that Marsh couldn't recognize. Above that, however, was a label that simply said 'Nopon Potion'.

It did look kind of shifty, but every Nopon Potion looked like this.

"I'm outta here. You can come if you like."

Suddenly, Sariel's frown changed to a subdued smile. "Wait… you said a giant hornet, right? I've always wanted one of those!" Sariel excitedly exclaimed. "Can you wait up? I want to catch it."

Marsh sighed.

"Never met a girl who's into bugs. I'm sure not a fan of those things, but it's in that room with that stupid Homs. Good luck catching it, I'm outta here, for the third time." Marsh didn't even realize that he'd referred to Sariel as a girl until he'd finished speaking. Previously, he'd been careful with what he said. He didn't know if Sariel was male or female, so instead, he thought it would be best to simply avoid referring to Sariel as either gender.

For a brief moment, Marsh considered piping up and saying it was an accident. It was, after all, but Sariel began to reply.

"… Wait. How'd you know…?" Sariel asked, their curiosity all too apparent in their voice. "Do I want to know how…?"

"How'd I know?" Marsh clicked his fingers as his back was turned to Sariel, and he began to step away. "I didn't. You just told me."

"Dang. That's a really clever gambit. You're smarter than you look." Sariel seemed amazed at Marsh's 'gambit', though in reality it was nothing more than an accident. "I knew you'd ask eventually. Next you'll ask about this hood, I bet."

 _'… Whoa, I feel pretty cool from that. Like a hero from one of those books I read. She thinks it's some clever trick, but it was more of a mistake… a mistake turned into a miracle. She bought up that hood of hers, though… can't help but wonder about it, still. What's underneath?'_

Marsh shrugged.

 _'Nah, doesn't matter that much.'_ Another thing came to Marsh's mind. _'Oh, yeah… that 'Monado' thing's still back in that cave. If I'm going to sell it, I'm going to need to actually pick it up. I'd bet it'd sell for a lot, too… but I can't help but think there's something up with that sword. As soon as I touched it, I saw things. They were probably just dreams, though. I mean… fate being a script, and that sword lets me deviate from it? And I knew that, somehow? Doubtful… I've never seen this sword in my life.'_

"Thinking up your next clever gambit? Don't think too hard or your head might hurt, pal!" Sariel laughed, pistols at her sides. "Oh, yeah. How'd you go with that Homs dude?"

Marsh shook his head. "He's pretty... yelly at the moment. I'm about to go fetch this weird sword I found in the room, though. He's scared of it, so I'm getting rid of it for him. It's apparently an evil sword."

 _'Yeah, I'm getting rid of it. I'd leave it if it weren't valuable, though. It scares the hell out of that Homs, so it's a nice way to get back. And, speaking of scares… that hornet better not still be there. I really hate those things…'_

Marsh headed to the room that contained three things – a Homs, still immobile on the ground, an enormous hornet, and a so called 'evil sword' that looked like it would fetch a high price in the seedy, underground marketplaces found within Colony 9.

Marsh sighed as he heard the giant hornet's audible buzzing, then immediately beelined into the cavern and grabbed onto the Monado.

"I thought your friend in the hood wanted you to help me?" The merchant Homs, still sitting on the ground for whatever reason uttered. "You look like a pretty selfish kid, though. I can't see you helping anyone else but yourself."

Marsh faintly smiled.

"The whole reason I'm here is to help my Nopon friend. You're dead wrong."

With the Monado and Nopon Potion in his hands, Marsh rushed out of the cavern before the giant hornet had a chance to catch up to him.

 _'I'm going to get this to Lapa as quickly as I can.'_

Beginning to speedwalk once more, Marsh started to traverse the tunnels of Spiran Pass. Shortly behind him was Sariel, who followed along – though she occasionally got distracted by the scenery of the cavern.

* * *

 _ **Colony 9**_

Marsh and Sariel reached the entrance to Spiran Pass, or in their case – the exit. They'd reached Outlook Park, the area that marked both the entrance and exit from Spiran Pass.

"Whoa, it's been a long time since I've had any reason to come here." Sariel muttered, looking out over the ravaged Colony 9 from the high cliff of Outlook Park. "I heard the place was in a bad state, but… it looks like crap. This is where you live?"

Marsh nodded, but didn't say a word. The place wasn't always like how it was… no, it used to be a bustling colony, full of people helping each other and trade. Now? It was full of scoundrels wronging each other, robbing others – rarely, people were even killed. Marsh knew he wasn't helping the situation, but… it felt like there was nothing he could do. What change could he make to the colony?

For every person who contributed to the health of Colony 9, there were five more people like the nefarious King Squeeze and his legions of criminals… Marsh included.

Deep down, Marsh wanted to be one of those people out and repairing Colony 9, his home. He knew of some people who dedicated themselves to this goal... but only passingly.

Then, something came to Marsh. Sariel was still speaking, but Marsh wasn't too concerned with whatever she had to say – not at the moment.

The reason for this… is that Shulk had wanted to study the Monado for years. This was perfect for Marsh! This struck itself to Marsh as a way to drive a quick profit.

But Marsh discarded this thought quickly. Years back, Shulk was his friend. In the past year, however, they'd drifted apart. Marsh thought that'd be for the best… it wasn't a secret that Marsh was essentially a criminal. Besides, Marsh knew he wouldn't be able to make a profit off anyone he could consider his friend.

 _'I'll sell it to King Squeeze… I wouldn't mind slipping him some poison, either. That guy has it coming, anyways.'_

"… Are you listening?" Sariel complained. "You're off in your own world again."

"Sorry, I'm just thinking about this sword." Marsh replied in a quiet tone.

Sariel's eyes wandered to the red, knife-like sword that seemingly pulsed with blue energy.

"That sword looks familiar. I saw stuff about this sword called the Monado that looked a lot like it, but… that looks more like a big red knife than anything. Plus, the Monado like this big kickass laser sword." Sariel informed. "Maybe there's lots of Monados out there? Like the Monado is the sword of the Bionis, so maybe there's a sword of the Mechonis and maybe there's even a Monado that looks like- sorry, but it'd be cool, right?"

Marsh nodded half-heartedly, not particularly paying attention.

"And how cool would it be if this hypothetical Bionis Monado and Mechonis Monado fought? I reckon that'd be pretty cool. Like, there's a chosen one from each titan and they're selected to fight. That'd be cool." Sariel continued. "Then, there can be a third Monado that keeps them in check or something. You like books, right? I bet you'd read that."

 _'Though… that Nopon Potion in that dream. It was just a dream, but… it looked the same as the potion I've got with me at the moment. But I hadn't seen the potion yet…'_

Marsh looked up to the sky, and immediately spotted the clouds above.

 _'What a day…'_

"Then, the wielder of the ninety-sixth Monado dies-" Sariel looked away from Marsh quickly.

"N-ninety-sixth? How long have you been talking…?!" Marsh exclaimed.

"I was saying ridiculous stuff to see when you'd catch it. I didn't actually count up to a ninety-sixth Monado, but that'd be cool, right?"

Marsh sighed.

"Well… I'm going home to deliver this potion to my friend. You do… whatever you want, I guess. I don't know what you do for fun. I'd bet you shoot things and kill monsters, though."

"Do you… do you know if there's something called a 'Pub' around here? I heard Homs like to drink to pass the time. I love drinks, so I think I want to pay it a visit." Sariel inquired.

 _'Sariel still weirds me out.'_ Marsh thought. _'Why say Homs? Just say people. And from the sound of it, she hardly knows what a pub is. But Colony 9 has one of those, so I may as well lead her to one. I won't have to worry about her getting into trouble with criminals, anyway. She's not an easy target, and I could just see her blasting some punk mugger with those dual pistols…'_

Marsh had one question in particular for Sariel.

"What… what kind of drinks are you talking about?"

"Oh, water is what we usually drink. I hear it's more fun to drink with others, though, so I don't want to miss out."

Marsh resisted the urge to laugh. It was clear – she had no clue what a pub was, and didn't seem to know the type of drinking done there.

Marsh led Sariel to a nearby pub, then headed home, to deliver the Nopon Potion to Lapa. It had been a long time coming…

* * *

 ** _Unknown Location_**

A bulky man with mechanical arms was strapped to an operating table in an incredibly bright room, with almost snow white walls surrounding him on each side. A solitary door could be found in this room, which swiftly swung open.

A middle-aged woman walked into the room, who had almost fiery ginger red hair and numerous scars on her face. She was muscular.

"Hey, doc – thanks. My fists have been itching to mash some of those metal machines. Can't really smash anythin' up if my hands are killed, huh?"

The ginger haired doctor burst into a fit of laughter. "Oh, Aren! Everything's about fights with you, isn't it? What if I told you that without this operation – you wouldn't be able to do anything that required your arms?"

"Larane, I'd tell you 'no problem'. If I don't have any hands, then I'll just use my legs." Aren spoke in a deadpan tone.

Larane, the ginger haired doctor erupted with laughter once again.

"You're going to pick things up with your legs? It's not impossible, but that'd be quite the challenge… wouldn't it? And, anyways – you'd be at a disadvantage in the world of fighting. You're not going to kick the Mechon back to the Mechonis."

"I'll just bite them apart, then, 'till they bleed black tar. You can call me the Metal Ripper, with jaws of steel."

"You're a strange one, you know that? It's not 'black tar', though - it's oil." Larane said as she placed her arm onto one of Aren's mechanical arms – specifically, his left.

"Doc, can you make these arms stretch out? Guns are useful, but they're for sissies. Thing is, I want to be able to punch schmucks from range." Aren said, still in a deadpan tone.

"… I'm not entirely sure how we'd manage that. You can dream about your long range punching as much as you want, but it's never going to happen."

Larane quickly tapped onto Aren's mechanical left arm with her fingers, producing an audible noise.

"One more thing, doc… remember how I told you about that weird Mechon? The Emerald UNIT one? It said it'd be back in a year, after the Battle of Sword Valley."

Larane shrugged.

"It's a Mechon. It's unbelievable enough that they can talk, but I doubt it was telling you the truth." Larane informed. "Plus, I doubt they'd understand the concept of time. They're unthinking machines, after all. They're not human."


	4. Assault on Colony 9

**_Colony 9_**

Marsh stood outside the slightly burnt door that led to both his and his friend, Lapa's, home. In one of his hands he held a blade, which he'd heard was the blade used in the Battle of Sword Valley a year ago… and in his other hand, he held an object which held far more value to him. It was the Nopon Potion he'd been searching for as of late.

It was almost mythical in what it could do. It could cure almost any sickness that a Nopon was unfortunate enough to acquire… and Lapa was generally a very sick Nopon.

But a particular suspicion bit away at Marsh. He wanted nothing but the best for Lapa, but he couldn't help but worry. Was this potion safe for Lapa to drink?

 _'This is a huge risk, but… I'm not sure how to check if this thing's legit or not. If it works, then Lapa's going to be better than he ever has been, but if it doesn't… he'll get even sicker. It's a huge gamble…'_

With a sigh, Marsh placed a hand onto the house's door, then immediately moved it away.

 _'I don't want to get his hopes up. I'm sure Lapa's excited for this, too, but…'_

"Marsh! You home!" Cried out the familiar voice of the red furred Nopon, Lapa. "You lazy today! Not even open door!" With an ear-piercing creak, Lapa forced the house's door open and his eyes immediately locked onto the two objects in Marsh's hands. First, his eyes locked onto the potion for a brief few moments.

Then, his eyes gazed at the red, knife-like sword in Marsh's left hand. Lapa bounced up and down after a few moments of looking at the sword… he clearly liked it, surprising Marsh. He didn't seem like the type to like weaponry.

Lapa slowly hopped over to Marsh and promptly grabbed it out of his hands. Marsh didn't mind this – rather, he thought it was quite cute, but those feelings were swiftly washed away when he recalled the Homs Merchant in Spiran Pass. The same merchant that claimed it was an evil sword that took control of him.

Lapa swung the Monado around playfully, but weakly. Marsh wasn't strong, but Lapa made Marsh look like a bastion of strength.

"Me stronger Nopon than brotherpon Kolaka! Kolaka think axe is strong, but Lapa think sword better! Kapow!"

And with that declaration, Lapa dropped the Monado onto the ground with a thud. All throughout this performance, Marsh was speechless with worry for his Nopon friend.

"… Lapa, are you alright? That sword's not… how do I put this…" Marsh explained nervously and full of worry for his best friend. "That's sword's not controlling you, right?"

 _'It didn't control me or anything like that, though… why would it control Lapa? I guess I'm just jumping at shadows.'_

Marsh leant down and picked up the Monado from the ground, then began to take quick steps towards Lapa, while holding out the Nopon Potion.

"Lapa," Marsh spoke, trying to be calm, though it didn't work very well. "I got you… I got you the potion. I'm not sure if it's any good, though –"

 _'… This is exactly what happened in my dream… isn't it?!'_

Abruptly, Marsh dove down at Lapa and forcefully knocked him to the left, which toppled the small red Nopon over with a squeak and a bounce.

"I'm so sorry, Lapa, but I have a bad feeling-"

Something interrupted Marsh… while it was expected, it still managed to surprise him. The same red laser from Marsh's dream burst out of the same wall – and if Marsh hadn't moved Lapa, chances were the Nopon was going to perish.

"-A bad feeling that was going to happen!" Marsh finished as he placed the Nopon Potion on the ground carefully, as to not break it. Shortly afterwards, the segment of the wall the laser pierced through collapsed, revealing the outside world to Marsh and Lapa.

 _'I need to see what caused that laser! If I don't do anything, then… chances are we're not going to see tomorrow.'_

"Lapa! Stay safe!" Marsh spoke as he leapt out of the newly created hole in the wall, and into the outdoors of Colony 9. It didn't take long for Marsh to realize the source of the attack. "I'll be back."

In front of Marsh stood an enormous, spider-like Mechon coated in blood red metal, with eight flailing mechanical limb. In place of an abdomen, this spider-like Mechon had an abnormally large cylinder shape, which was coated in flashing lights with no apparent function to Marsh.

Marsh gasped.

"A Mechon…"

"You'd be correct, yes. That is in fact what I am." A robotic voice seemed to emanate from the ruby red spider Mechon. "I am Unit: RUBY of the G.E.M squadron… harbingers of Mechonis's destined victory. Allow me to offer you the opportunity to surrender – I suggest you take it."

Marsh was speechless. The source of the laser that would've killed Lapa – it was a Mechon? What was it doing in Colony 9? It was as if it had shown up out of nowhere. The ruby red pointed at the sword in Marsh's hands, the Monado with one of its enormous eight legs, causing Marsh to step back to protect himself.

"That blade… is it not the Monado? How intriguing. I had concluded that it had been lost for the coming millenia, to never be seen again. Lord Egil won't take to this news kindly." The red spider Mechon, Unit: RUBY talked surprisingly politely for a Mechon… it didn't occur to Marsh that Mechon generally couldn't talk, however. He'd rarely encountered any Mechon.

"'Lord Egil'? Who's that? And 'harbingers of Mechonis's destined victory'? Geez, you're trying too hard. And also… Gem Squadron…? That's what you're going with?" Marsh spoke back as a thought occurred to him. He had the Monado… the blade that slew Mechon with ease. The only blade that could slay Mechon, as far as he knew. "If you're here to fight, then you're outmatched."

Marsh knew this would be a cinch. The Monado was powerful – people in Colony 9 said it could kill any Mechon in one swing. Marsh didn't think he was in any danger, not with power like that.

"You're quite a strange Homs," Unit: RUBY uttered. "You put on a brave mask in the face of certain death. Allow me to say this – I can respect your confidence, even if it is a little ill-placed… my Homs friend."

Marsh glared. "Don't call me your 'friend'… you nearly killed actual friend of mine. You're nothing more but my enemy."

Marsh held the Monado in his hand, then pointed it towards Unit: RUBY. Immediately, the Monado flared up with azure ether energy, creating a laser blade. With a slash, Marsh assaulted Unit: RUBY's large spider-like legs, but the sword simply bounced off, causing no damage in the slightest. Marsh grunted in confusion, which quickly turned to dread. He thought victory was in his grasp… but it seemed as if he'd misjudged the situation "But I thought…!"

"No, no, no, no, no… that won't do, my friend. The G.E.M Units are all but immune to your Monado – unless the G.E.M Unit is careless, of course. Now, allow me to test you-"

"You want to test me?! I don't care about any of your damn tests!" Marsh screamed out at Unit: RUBY, the Monado at the ready as he charged once more. Unit: RUBY didn't move as Marsh began to strike it with the Monado's blade again, to no result. But this didn't stop Marsh, who continued striking the red, spider mechon over and over, in hopes of a result.

It was inconceivable – a Mechon immune to the Monado was unheard of, at least in Colony 9. Was it even possible? That there was something that not even the Monado could damage? "Please… you're only embarrassing yourself. The Monado cannot dent a G.E.M Unit." Unit: RUBY announced, as one of its eight spider-like legs reached up into the air and aimed down towards the ground… almost like some form of gun, aimed in Marsh's general direction.

 _'Don't tell me… all of those legs are guns?! Geez… that's six more guns than Sariel has, and this is on some huge Mechon. How can I take this thing out?! It's immune to the Monado!'_

Unit: RUBY's leg fired off a green projectile, which Marsh nimbly dodged. However, it seemed as if the shot wasn't intended to hit Marsh…

Marsh gazed at the area surrounding him, which was blocked off by a mystical green barrier of what he could only presume was ether energy. Confounded, Marsh rushed over to the barrier and touched it. There was no denying it… the barrier was completely solid. It seemed that Marsh was trapped within.

"This is an Containment Barrier," Unit: RUBY explained, confirming Marsh's suspicions. "As long as it is in place, there is no escape. Now, allow me to test you… whether you like it or not."

Several metallic, circular shapes fell from the sky and collided with the ground. In seconds, they spewed out several small Mechon – specifically, Mechon M31s, three of them, which hovered in the air with a piercing red eye each, which stayed locked onto Marsh, though their eyes occasionally darted over to the Monado.

Marsh bit his lip. _'No escape… he thinks I want to escape? No way I'm running from this. I'll scrap each and every last one of these things if I have to!'_

Quickly, Marsh leapt over to one of the Mechon M31 and stabbed at the hovering Mechon, piercing through the armour like a hot knife through butter. The Mechon was destroyed in a single hit.

 _'Much better than that sword I had, back in Spiran Pass. This thing's more light than I thought it would be.'_

With a horizontal swing, Marsh took a step towards another Mechon M31 and struck it. The Monado's ether blade cut the Mechon clean in two.

 _'… What's different about these Mechon, and that ruby one? I can hurt these ones, but that one's immune. Can't imagine why…'_

All of a sudden, Marsh's vision went blurry… and Marsh could see both himself, and the remaining Mechon M31. The Mechon M31 began to shudder heavily as Marsh watched the floating Mechon… Then, the Mechon abruptly fired off a blue shot of ether energy. Marsh didn't react in time and was struck by the blast, causing him to stagger backwards in pain.

 _'Hold on. This happened before, with Lapa. But before, it was like…'_

Marsh gasped as he returned to reality.

 _'It was like I was seeing the future! That's what happened!'_

As soon as the Mechon began shuddering, Marsh knew what to do. With a quick dodge to the left, Marsh kept his eye on the Mechon. And, sure enough – its shot was completely off the mark. Marsh closed the distance between the Mechon M31 and himself with remarkable ease. A quick stab to the Mechon M31's body sent it hurtling to the ground with a clang.

Unit: RUBY watched from outside the barrier. "You didn't even take a hit. I had you pegged as an amateur, friend… but you proved me wrong."

"I won't just defy your expectations… I'll defy the future." Marsh uttered as coolly as he could muster. _'Damn… that sounded cool._ Marsh thought.

One more Mechon Drop-Pod fell into the Containment Barrier, which burst open with a bang. This revealed a Mechon M63, which was a distinctly more humanoid type of Mechon than the rest Marsh had encountered so far. Out of the corner of his eye, Marsh caught sight of several Colony 9 residents catching sight of Unit: RUBY and screaming in terror, though Unit: RUBY merely watched Marsh and the Monado fight off its hordes of Mechon.

Shortly afterwards, some more Mechon Drop-Pods fell into Colony 9, though they were outside of the Containment Barrier. Marsh couldn't reach the Mechon M63s that emerged from the Drop-Pods… but he did notice that one of them was heading towards his house, the same place Lapa was resting within.

 _'It's going to go for Lapa…! I need to get out of here as soon as I can - or else he's in danger...!'_ Marsh thought, holding the Monado close to him.

The Mechon M63 chose to step closer and closer towards Marsh at a surprisingly swift pace, before performing a horizontal slash with its claw. On reaction, Marsh tried to dodge. But, unluckily for the Monado-wielding youth, Marsh was struck by the Mechon M63's claw and knocked to the ground. The strike from the Mechon M63 drew a small amount of blood and caused mild pain to Marsh, though he knew that was not a problem… what was a problem was the fact that Marsh was flat on his back, vulnerable to whatever attack the Mechon M63 would try.

Suddenly, the Mechon M63's claw changed shape as it spun around at high speeds, into a shape resembling that of a flower petal. This change in the Mechon's claw struck fear into Marsh's heart. Its newly changed hand looked like it was designed to grab something… and Marsh knew that he was going to be the target. What would happen next – that was unknown to Marsh, and he couldn't bear to even think about it. It would certainly lead to death.

"Dammit! I'm not-" Marsh interrupted himself.

 _'No…! I need to remember what Sariel told me back against those Vangs… I need to concentrate. If I panic, then I'll just miss. I can't afford to miss here. Too much is on the line!"_

The Mechon M63 slowly stepped towards Marsh, then lunged forth, its arm ready to snap up Marsh. At that moment, Marsh countered the Mechon M63's movement by stabbing at the Mechon M63's flower petal-like arm, causing it to swiftly move its arm away from Marsh's range. It was evident to Marsh that the Mechon had taken decent damage. They were not nearly as tough as Marsh had imagined them to be…

Marsh swiftly got back to his feet, not daring to let go of the Monado.

 _'Something's coming to me! The Monado's power... to shoot!'_

Marsh stepped back from the Mechon M63, then began to point the Monado towards the Mechon M63, as if he was aiming a rifle. Then, the ether energy of the Monado turned dark blue as the Monado's blade of ether grew larger due to excess ether energy.

"Time to wipe you out!" Marsh confidently yelled. "Monado Shooter!"

The excess ether energy on the Monado's blade flew off towards the Mechon M63 like lasers, six in total… though only four collided with the Mechon M63, though they exploded with ether when they did.

This attack was more than enough to defeat the Mechon M63, which fell lifelessly to the ground. And with that, the Containment Barrier disappeared in an instant.

"Impressive, Monado Wielder. But, will you be able to defeat the rest of these Mechon?" Unit: RUBY questioned, pointing towards the Mechon roaming the streets of Colony 9. "Those four Mechon you fought were rather weak units, I believe." Marsh ignored Unit: RUBY's words, and instead darted back over to his house, where Lapa still waited… and where another Mechon M63 was heading. If it was headed for Lapa, then Lapa wouldn't put up much of a fight.

But Marsh was more than capable of putting up a fight with his newfound blade, the Monado. With it, he had breezed through four Mechon with surprising ease. He was not going to let his friend fall victim to the Mechon.

The hole in the house's wall had only grown larger, due to a Mechon M63 bashing at the wall in order to make room for it to enter. But due to this, it was a cinch for the smaller Marsh to enter the house, where he immediately caught sight of two things – an unconscious Lapa, and a Mechon M63, which had its claw raised high into the air, seemingly ready to bring it down onto Lapa's tiny frame.

Marsh knew he wouldn't be able to reach the Mechon in time. No matter how fast he could run, he wouldn't be able to stop the Mechon. That left Marsh with two options – his Monado Art, Shooter, and a far more risky plan... one that could go wrong very easily.

Marsh attempted to unleash the Monado's power to utilize the Monado Shooter art, but it simply didn't work. Cursing, Marsh held the Monado firmly as he put his second option into action… And then he threw the legendary blade through the air, akin to a throwing knife, where it soared at high speed towards the Mechon, whose claw drew closer and closer to Lapa's flesh.

 _'Please, hit!'_ Marsh pleaded in his mind. _'I can't afford to miss!'_

Marsh's eyes didn't dare leave the Monado as it sailed through the air. It was only a matter of seconds, yet it felt as if it took minutes. Marsh knew what would happen if he missed… the Mechon M63 would bring its claw down on Lapa and end his life quickly.

The blade was only inches away from the Mechon M63, which didn't seem to notice the deadly blade flying directly towards it. And then, the blade connected, causing the Mechon M63 to fall to the ground. But Marsh noticed something at this time – before, the Mechon was bringing its claw down on Lapa. The Mechon had been defeated, but its claw was still falling down, headed for Lapa.

"Lapa!" Marsh screamed as he tried fruitlessly to close the distance between him and the falling Mechon M63, in an attempt to save Lapa from the Mechon's still falling claw.

"Me ok, Marsh…" Lapa muttered, his eyes opening. "Don't worry…"

"Don't worry?! Don't give me that! Of course I'm going to worry!" Marsh replied back, still running as fast as his legs could take him as he tried to save Lapa.

But with a sickening yelp, Marsh failed to help his friend. The Mechon's claw fell onto his Nopon friend's arm, causing Lapa to begin breathing heavily. He knew his life was in danger. "Lapa!" Marsh cried out once more, as he tried to lift the Mechon's heavy body off of Lapa – though he simply couldn't muster the strength to lift the Mechon. "Say something! Please!"

Marsh took a good look at his friend Lapa, who could hardly even keep his eyes open. His fur was tattered, and a distinct red liquid was present on the ground, near where Lapa's Nopon arm had been cut into. Immediately, Marsh placed a hand onto Lapa's body, trying to hold back tears.

"I'm so sorry, Lapa… this is my fault." One tear emerged from Marsh's eyes, though he quickly wiped it away, only for several more to appear. He didn't wipe these away.

"Marsh. You so quick to cry… whenever Lapa hurt. Marsh best friend I could… could ask for." Lapa's words were strained. The pain in his voice was clearly apparent, to which Marsh cried slightly more.

"I shouldn't have left you alone! This is my fault!" Marsh repeated, his voice a mixture of anger and sadness. "I'll save you, Lapa!"

Lapa smiled.

"See? Marsh, you good friend. You always helpful." Lapa spoke happily. "Lapa ok, Marsh. Don't worry about Lapa... worry about others..."

And with that, Lapa's eyes snapped shut instantly.

"Dammit… dammit!" Marsh screamed, as he hung his head in shame. "I shouldn't have left him alone! I should've protected him, with that sword! Maybe then he'd still be alright!"

With a fierce step, Marsh got to his feet, then grabbed hold of the Monado, still buried within the Mechon M63 that had struck Lapa. Forcefully, Marsh ripped the Monado out of the Mechon, then gave the Mechon a kick.

With the Monado, Marsh sliced off the Mechon's claw arm, which was holding down Lapa's arm. Promptly, with all his strength, Marsh lifted the Mechon's arm and tossed it away where it landed with a thud.

 _'Those machines did this to Lapa. They took his life, so… I'll pay them back twicefold. I'll leave nothing of them behind! That's only fair, isn't it?!"_

With the Monado in hand, Marsh ran forth into the hordes of Mechon that lined Colony 9's streets. Several civilians were under attack from these Mechon.

 _'I'll destroy each and every one of you piles of trash! That's all you things deserve!'_

Marsh performed a powerful upwards cut on a Mechon M63, which was slashing at a woman and her child. This cut knocked the Mechon back, which Marsh promptly followed up with a horizontal slash to the metallic monster. All lights on the Mechon faded out as it fell to the ground.

Marsh didn't spare a word to the people he'd saved. He wasn't fighting the Mechon to save these people – he was destroying them out of pure rage. Helping these people was only a side benefit.

A group of two Mechon M72s, with bulb-like arms were marching down the streets of Colony 9, which had been set ablaze from the hordes of Mechon and their ether shots. These Mechon were headed for Marsh, conveniently enough. After all, he was heading for them, too.

Suddenly, two ether shots struck both Mechon M72s, though they hardly seemed fazed or even damaged at all.

"Yo, Marsh! I've got some awful luck, huh? One day I come to Colony 9, and-" Sariel spoke from nearby, a grin on her face, which shifted to a confused expression when she noticed Marsh's furious demeanour. "Marsh?"

Marsh didn't pay any attention to Sariel's words. However, he raised the Monado into the air, which promptly pulsed with purple energy. This was another of the Monado's powers - one that suddenly came to him, just as his other Monado art had.

"Monado Enchant!" Marsh yelled, imbuing Sariel with a purple aura. She looked confused by this, though she immediately fired off some more ether shots at the two Mechon. These shots dealt more noticeable damage as they burned directly into the armour of both Mechon M72s.

Marsh was in range of both Mechon M72s, a risky move indeed. The Mechon M72 on the left struck horizontally with its arm, only for Marsh to dodge this by ducking underneath.

The Mechon M72 on the right didn't do this. Instead, its bulb-like arm opened up and immediately rushed towards Marsh. He didn't have time to dodge the attack, causing the bulb to begin to close in on Marsh.

With all his strength, Marsh tried to hold the bulb open. If he didn't, then he knew what would happen. He'd be crushed within the Mechon's bulb-like arm, in a process known as 'Eating'.

However, Marsh wasn't particularly strong. Forcing the bulb to stay open instead of snapping shut took all the strength he could muster, and even still – it was getting closer and closer to crushing Marsh.

Marsh's vision swiftly faded to black, only to come back in what felt like a second. It was a vision! Marsh could see the two Mechon M72s, Sariel – and of course, himself locked in the grip of one of the Mechon.

"Double Round!" Sariel cried out with a distressed, fearful tone, as she fired off two shots from her Ether Pistols. The shots struck the Mechon M72 with Marsh in its grip, and it certainly seemed like the shots damaged it, but… it wasn't enough to defeat it.

Marsh could only look on in horror as the Mechon M72's grip became tighter and tighter on his self in the vision, until… until he was crushed entirely by the Mechon M72 with a deafening, desperate scream.

Then, Marsh's vision returned to normal. He was back in the Mechon M72's grip, his mind full of dread. Those visions weren't phony. They seemed to foretell what would happen.

If Marsh didn't do anything, then he'd die in what he could only presume was an agonizing and painful way. Not that he wasn't already in a painful situation, what with the Mechon's arm crushing Marsh more and more by the second…

 _'I need Sariel's help to get out of here, but her shots didn't even stop this thing. What can I do?'_

The Mechon's grip grew tighter and tighter, as it began to crush the air out of Marsh's lungs. His breathing grew more and more irregular, becoming more damaged by the second. Marsh wanted to call out to Sariel, but it was fruitless. He had trouble even speaking.

"It's going to… to kill me…" Marsh barely coughed out, still being choked from the Mechon's unyielding grip. "Why… why here?"

The other Mechon M72 began to pace towards Sariel, who made distance from the slow Mechon with ease. Sariel's gaze turned into one of determination, one that befit a hero as she heard Marsh's words.

"It isn't going to kill you, mate... don't give up so easy!" Sariel yelled, her determination clearly audible in her voice as she took aim at the Mechon M72 that held Marsh in its grip.

Marsh didn't know if he'd changed the future. So far, he'd only spotted one difference – that was in Sariel's tone. In the vision, she sounded uncertain and afraid. But now? She sounded motivated. But would that be enough to change the future?

Marsh struggled more and more by the second to hold the bulb-like arm of the Mechon M72 open.

"I'm unleashing a Fusillade!" Sariel announced, a pistol in each hand as she took aim at the Mechon M72 holding Marsh in its arm. This didn't happen in the vision.

Marsh grunted in a mixture of pain and frustration, due to the Mechon's unrelenting and crushing grip.

"Double Round!" Sariel fired off two ether rounds, one from each ether pistol. This happened in the vision! Marsh gasped. "And… another!" Sariel continued, firing off two more ether shots. The four ether shots each made their mark on the Mechon M72's body, three of them striking its body, and one of them striking its head.

And, much to Marsh's surprise – the Mechon's bulb-like arm opened up, dropping Marsh to the ground with a thud. For a moment, Marsh tried to get to his feet, though he found he was out of energy after holding the Mechon M72's arm open. So, Marsh simply lied there on the ground, the Monado by his side.

"You alright?!" Sariel inquired, noticing her ally's status. "Don't push yourself too hard!"

 _'Dammit… I really screwed that up. I can't believe I'm still alive…'_ Thought Marsh, as he looked up at the cloudy sky above. _'I don't deserve to be, but… as long as I'm alive, I'll fight the Mechon in Lapa's name.'_

Suddenly, a large, floating red object appeared in the sky. It was eight-legged. Immediately, Marsh recognized this as Unit: RUBY, which he'd completely forgotten about. "Tired yourself out, hm? It seems you've got a long way to go if you want to stand even the slightest chance of defeating Mechonis." Unit: RUBY politely spoke, and somewhat condescendingly. "Though, with that in mind – you don't deserve to die. At least, not yet."

Sariel immediately fired off a few shots at the enormous, spider-like Mechon, but they had no effect. However, Marsh's vision grew hazy... and before long, he collapsed to the ground, unconscious.

"Marsh?!" Sariel yelled.

"Your friend... hmm. I'll leave things here." Unit: RUBY spoke. "I believe it's time for me to make my exit."

* * *

"Are you awake?"

Marsh's eyes sluggishly opened to a roof, with a bright light attached. Marsh immediately covered his eyes – he hadn't gotten used to the light yet.

Marsh found that he was lying down on something comfy, presumably a bed of some sorts.

 _'I feel like I could use some more sleep.'_ Marsh thought, turning over and resting his head on a pillow. _'No clue where this is, but…'_

"Dearie, have as much sleep as you need." A croaky, kind voice advised. "I'll make you something to eat and drink, too."

 _'Something to eat…?! I'm starving – I could definitely use something to eat.'_

Marsh moved his head from the pillow and scanned his surroundings, now having food to look forward to. He could see that he was in a room of a house. He could see a table, which was decorated with flowers and a picture of what seemed to be a blonde boy, with two others. But, he couldn't see the image very well – it was on the other side of the room.

A window was visible in the room, and outside Marsh could see Colony 9. It was clear that the place was in tatters from the Mechon attack. Some buildings were charred by flame, while others were in pieces.

"Are you looking for your friend?" The kindly voice asked.

Marsh shook his head. "My friend got hurt in the Mechon attack… not sure if he's even alive anymore." Marsh muttered with an ashamed tone, looking over at the ravaged Colony 9.

"Hmm? I'm talking about your lady friend. When you were knocked out, she helped bring you here. Then, she went to save the others…"

Marsh spotted the source of the voice – a frail old woman in a flower pattern dress, with dark black-grey hair and a plate in her hand.

"Oh… you mean her." Marsh replied. "Also… not to be greedy, but can you get me the best food you have?"

The old woman chuckled in an enthused tone.

"Of course, dearie. It will be a feast!" With that, the old lady gestured grandly, taking Marsh by surprise. Then, the old lady opened a door into a kitchen and headed off. Marsh could only hope she was getting her best food for him – he was almost always hungry, but today he was starving, no doubt to everything that had happened.

Marsh sighed.

 _'I hope Lapa's alright… I don't think he's dead, but I think he's unconscious… in a coma. But, still. Lapa didn't deserve that.'_

Marsh trembled with anger as he recalled the injuries Lapa sustained from the Mechon. Lapa never had done anything wrong – why was it he who came out of this worse off?

 _'It should've been anyone else. If I could… I'd give up my life to help him out._ ' Marsh resting his head on his hands. _'I never cared about the Mechon before. They'd never done anything to really hurt me or Lapa, but… now they have. Thanks to that… I can see how vile those machines are. They're just soulless machines from Mechonis, out to kill the people of Bionis. The world would be a better place if we just wiped them all out.'_

In the corner of his eye, Marsh spotted the Monado lying against his bed.

 _'The world would be a better place if we wiped all Mechon out...'_

"Time for the feast!" Abruptly, the door to the kitchen opened and the frail old lady stepped outside, a smile on her face, and a bag of what appeared to be food in her left hand.

Marsh smiled ever so lightly. Lapa's condition did damper his mood, but if there was one thing that could get a smile back on his face – it was food.

"Marsh? That's your name, isn't it?" The frail old lady spoke curiously. "My name is Marcia. Now, may I ask a bit of a personal question?" Marcia uttered, looking into Marsh's eyes.

Marsh quickly nodded as he shovelled a Chewy Radish into his mouth, then swiftly followed it up with a Red Lettuce.

"Are you a thief?"

Marsh promptly stopped eating, taken aback by the question.

"I-I am, but it was for my friend, Lapa. If I didn't, then we'd both be dead a year ago. But now, Lapa's… I think he's in a coma. There's no reason for me to stay a thief." Marsh hastily explained, worried what Marcia may think of him.

"I see…" Marcia replied. "You're that boy Lapa couldn't stop talking about. He always asked me for food. He was almost my third adoptive son."

Marsh raised an eyebrow. "So this is where Lapa got his food from… thank you, Marcia. There's not many good people in Colony 9, but you're one of them."

Marcia chuckled once more.

"There are many good people in Colony 9, Marsh. It's simply a matter of perspective."

 _'I haven't found many of them. They're just criminals looking out for nobody but themselves.'_ Marsh thought, but did not speak as he began to chow down on more Chewy Radishes.

"Also… Lapa should be fine. That Nopon... he should be fine, but he _is_ in a coma..." Marcia informed, looking directly at Marsh with a smile. "I bet he'll be happy to see you when he wakes up.!"

Marsh nodded.

"Yeah… I'll be happy to see him again, too."

* * *

 _Side Notes:_

 _Some readers may have noticed the Arts used in the story. From this point on, I'll be explaining what Arts Marsh, Sariel, and the others learn by the chapters they use them. Maybe it's a little silly to use Arts in an original story, but I've always liked the idea of skills in a story._

 _Marsh's Arts:_

 _Talent Art: Activate Monado, allows Marsh to use Monado Arts._

 _Monado Enchant: You might know how this works from the original. This Art imbues Marsh's teammates with a special aura, allowing their strikes to damage most Mechon.  
_

 _Monado Shooter: Excess ether energy is drawn from the air, which forms on the Monado's blade - think Monado Buster. Marsh points this towards his foes, and this excess ether energy flies off towards any foes in range, hitting six times on each foe for low damage._

 _Sariel's Arts:_

 _Talent Art: Fusillade. Fusillade is a Buff that makes Sariel's next move twice as many times. For instance, if used on Double Round - Sariel will fire off four rounds._

 _Double Round: Two ranged ether attacks which hit for medium damage._


	5. His Name, Inbris

**_Colony 9, Groggy Brog Pub_**

Two men and a woman sat on wooden stools while they shared stories of their past, each of them with a glass of red wine in hand – known as Royal Wine, created from a rare fruit known as a Royal Grape. A bartender was also present, though he strayed away from the group present in the bar unless they were to request a drink.

"A Mechon attack's pretty crappy only if you don't do anything about it." A lanky, frizzy haired man began to explain, gesturing with his hands. "Think about it."

To his side, a bulkier man with scars decorating his face smiled.

"You reckon? Come on, mate. Tell me why."

Suddenly, the door to the pub swung open with force, revealing a figure in a storm grey jacket, and wearing a white and gold cavalier hat. At this figure's side were two ether pistols, strapped to their sides.

"The name's Sariel," The figure introduced themselves, and then took a seat on the sole unoccupied stool. The others in the bar turned to face this mysterious new gunslinger with vague interest, but shortly roped themselves back into their conversation.

The bartender, an older Homs fellow with a moustache approached Sariel with a shy smile.

"You're new here, huh? You want anything, or are you just here to chat?" The bartender asked, a hand on his chin. "I'd prefer it if you bought something, of course… businesses don't run themselves."

"Oh… this is one of those places that cost money, huh." Sariel noted to herself, pulling out a few golden coins from her pocket and clumsily placing them onto the counter. "That'll be enough, I think."

Taking his hand from his chin, the bartender scooped up the golden coins and inspected them carefully, having noticed something unusual about them.

This confused Sariel.

"What are you doing…?"

Raising an eyebrow, the bartender looked over at Sariel with a curious expression on his face, and brought his hand back to his chin.

"This isn't regular old money. It's completely legit, but it's not anything you'd found around here." The bartender said. "So where's it from? I've got a few ideas in my head, personally."

Sariel leaned back with a grin.

"Mysterious, huh?" She said with a wink. "But that thing's paid for, right? I gave you the money and all."

"No… you haven't told me what you want yet." Replied the bartender. "But onto a more interesting topic – you're no ordinary Homs… if you're a Homs at all."

Sariel narrowed her eyes, trying to ignore what the bartender.

"Uh… any drink will do." She responded. "I've never been to one of these places."

"Though, if you're not Homs, then there's one thing I could see you being," The bartender added. "That doesn't make sense, though. _They'd_ never come down here. Way too uppity to even associate with a Homs."

Sariel nodded, not particularly paying attention. "Yeah. When's the drink coming in? I've always wanted to try one out…"

"Oh, yeah. Forgive my small talk – I'll get you the best thing I've got to drink here. After all, that's a lot of money you're giving me."

A lot of money – Sariel didn't pay much attention to how much she'd given the bartender, but in hindsight… she realized she'd given him three 200G coins, equalling 600G.

Briefly, Sariel felt regret, but that subsided. It wasn't that much, and she had plenty more. She was a hunter of dangerous monsters – Unique Monsters, which paid a fair bit.

Off to her side, the four other people in the bar were having quite a lively conversation. Sariel could not help but listen in to their discussion.

"As I was saying… the good part of an attack like this is that everything's thrown into disarray. Some people get killed, and a dead man can't catch you robbing them blind, hey?" The lanky, frizzy haired man laughed. "Then the people who lived, they're just thankful they aren't dead. Threaten them to hand their crap over, and I guarantee you they will. They don't want to die, hey?"

"You're damn right, Oddy! Nothing wrong about being clever!" The bulky, scarred man agreed. "Here's how you do it."

Sariel had heard whispers of what kind of a place Colony 9 was. She'd heard it was full of scum and criminals, generally awful people… And everything she'd heard proved it true.

The large man approached Sariel menacingly, a fell glare on his face and his fists curled up, as if he was planning to strike.

"Yo, pretty boy! Hand over everything, or we'll take everything by force…" The large man threatened. "That includes your life!"

"Hah! Nice, big guy!" A woman dressed in a bright pink dress and wearing an excess of makeup and similar cosmetics laughed.

Sariel, however, didn't find this so funny. With a quick draw, Sariel grabbed hold of her right ether pistol and aimed straight towards the large man's head.

"H-holy-!" The large thug cried out, while the others in the bar gasped. "Mate! I'm not being serious, alright? I'm practicing my technique!"

Sariel glared directly into the man's eyes. "What's that technique for? Is it for scaring people into giving you the stuff they want… huh? You can tell me. Or is there… something wrong with that?"

Sariel held her gaze with the man, who looked fearful.

"If you doing something wrong, then maybe I'll have to 'practice my technique', too. As a hunter, it's pretty dang important to be able to aim a gun."

"Hey!" The woman in the bright pink dress called out to the bartender, who was holding a glass of wine in his hand. "Aren't you going to calm this blockhead down? They're threatening our friend!"

The bartender turned away.

"I noticed, but I think this is for the best." The bartender replied calmly. "The lot of you cause nothing but trouble in the Colony. You're even foolish enough to discuss how to exploit and swindle people in front of my eyes. If I could – I'd have reported the three of you months back."

Sariel caught sight of the other man skulking around in the corner of her eye, not that she was particularly worried. She had two ether pistols and there were two people. It wasn't a problem.

With a quick movement of her hand, Sariel aimed the second ether pistol directly at the second thug.

"Don't move a muscle." Sariel ordered, focusing on the two targets in front of her. "If I shoot, it _will_ hurt you-"

Somebody then tapped Sariel on her shoulder, but even still… she held her gaze on the two thugs in front of her.

She didn't know who was behind her, or what they would do. But Sariel knew if she looked away from the two thugs, they'd take the opportunity to rush forward and attack.

It seemed like a much wiser decision to stay locked onto the thugs.

"Gentlemen, is this person causing you trouble?" The person from behind Sariel placed their hand onto Sariel's shoulder. "Do tell if they are. I'm more than happy to provide assistance, should the need… _arise._ "

"That would be a great help, yes." The woman in pink answered back in an enthused tone. "They're a thief… they're threatening our lives with intent to rob us."

"It's the other way around! You're the thieves!" Sariel yelled.

Tapping Sariel's shoulder in an almost rhythmic fashion, the man chuckled.

"No, no, no. I've been watching this situation unfold for a while now, actually. The three of you over there – you're some quite vile characters, all things considered." The man spoke. "As for this young man – or rather, lady, she's standing up for what she perceives as 'right' in this scenario. And I completely agree with her perception…"

The thugs looked surprised, and so did Sariel. How did he know?

"Ah, forgive me if I've leaked some personal information. I couldn't help but… eavesdrop." The man explained.

 _'How'd he know? It doesn't make any sense…'_

Suddenly, the man's tone turned to one much more biting and aggressive as he tapped harder and harder onto Sariel's shoulder, throwing off her aim ever so slightly.

"You stand up for what I perceive as right, but that doesn't matter. No – in this case I must side with the one-note villains over there, though reluctantly. You, missy, are my enemy. So, lower your guns, Sariel."

 _'What the hell?! This guy knows me! The only person I've told this crap to is Marsh, but that doesn't sound like him at all! This guy's dangerous…!'_

Hastily, Sariel leapt off the stool and turned around to get a look at the man. Twisting her body slightly, Sariel aimed one gun towards the group of thugs, and one towards the man – who she got a good look at.

He was a blonde haired man with cobalt blue eyes, with a vacant smile on his face. He wore an azure blue tunic… and on his back was what seemed to be a red blade. Sariel couldn't identify it any further.

"Understandable. You turn your weapon on me." The blonde man laughed. "I don't blame you in the least. You're simply following fate, after all."

Sariel opened her mouth to speak, but the blonde man immediately spoke over her.

"'What the hell does that mean?!' – that's what you were going to say, wasn't it?" The blonde man mocked. "Impressive, no?"

Sariel didn't know what to think. That was precisely what she was going to say…!

"What's your deal…?" Sariel simply asked. "How do you even know me?"

The blonde man laughed once again.

"My name is Inbris." The blonde fellow, now known as Inbris informed. However, the door to the bar promptly swung open.

Sariel spotted Marsh entering the area, who looked confused at what was going on.

"Sariel… what are you trying to do?" Marsh uttered. "Because whatever it is, it looks like you're holding these guys up. Didn't really take you as the type."

Sariel tried to reply to Marsh, but Inbris interrupted her, swiftly and soundly. His tone became biting once more as he looked upon Marsh.

"So we finally meet, Marsh Artein." Inbris addressed. "I was hoping you'd arrive."

Inbris smiled, but something about him set Marsh on edge… but he didn't have the slightest clue as to what. Marsh saw that the man was armed with something red on his back, but that wasn't what set him off.

Marsh's vision went blurry. He knew what this was – a vision.

Marsh could see everyone in the bar. He, Sariel, Inbris, the thugs, and even the bartender. Marsh was particularly concerned about what Inbris may do. The thugs were dangerous, too, but Marsh wasn't interested in them, not even remotely.

In the vision, Inbris made a quick swipe to the red object on his back. It was a rather large red blade, decorated with light blue lines running through it. In fact, it looked strikingly similar to Marsh's blade, the Monado… though far more sword-like.

Inbris's sword became bathed in blue ether energy, just like Marsh's Monado had in the past. And then, he struck directly into Marsh's torso, staggering him and knocking him into the ground.

The vision ended there. Marsh kept his eye on Inbris, knowing what his next course of action would be… then he dodged, avoiding the strike with ease.

Inbris burst into laughter.

"So it was true! Marsh Artein, chosen wielder of a Monado! That was a vision!" Inbris exclaimed. "How… how poetic! Two Monado wielders crossing paths!"

Inbris strolled up to Marsh casually, then touched his nose. Marsh winced, then went to punch Inbris in the stomach… but he dodged with ease, as if he'd seen the strike coming.

"Never heard of personal space?" Marsh asked angrily. "Do that again and I'll make you regret it."

"That's what you focus on, Marsh? I touched your nose for a reason. I calculated that you would strike at me. By no means should I have been able to dodge your strike as easily as I did, correct? Essentially, that was a more… stylish way of demonstrating my power."

Marsh rolled his eyes. "Your 'power'? Dodging someone's hit isn't a power, that's a basic skill. Maybe that's worth bragging about for you, but for normal people, it's second nature."

Inbris sighed, then his tone shifted into one far more aggressive.

"You idiotic dullard…! You have such power, and you're this much of a moron?!" Inbris yelled, before calming himself down to his more suave, level tone. "I too, am capable of having visions. I want you to write that to memory, before your inferior brain forgets it. Am I clear?"

"What's going on here?" The lanky thug asked, now sitting down on a stool once more. "Bloody weirdos talking about some power. And what're those laser swords?"

"A good profit," The bulky thug laughed. "You wanna get them?"

The lanky thug nodded, and the two cracked their knuckles and charged forth at both Monado wielders.

"Roaaaar!" Growled out the thugs in an animalistic manner. Sariel noticed the lanky thug headed for Marsh, and quickly took aim – then fired an ether shot at them, striking them in the back. The thug cried out, but didn't slow down.

Both of the Monado wielders had a vision, and immediately delivered a powerful punch to each of the thugs. The bartender cursed under his breath, but still kept his eye on the events unfolding in his bar. He was far too nervous to interrupt the fight, however. The same applied to the woman in pink.

Inbris stepped over to Marsh.

"I was considering ending you here." Inbris spoke. "I want to crush you like an ant. You're not worthy of that sword, but… I feel as if it would be a _great deal_ more interesting if I waited for you to grow. It would simply be anticlimactic if I cut you down in a pub of all things. I'd prefer somewhere like, hmm… Prison Island?"

Inbris kicked down the bulky thug, who was kneeled on the ground, and stomped down on his chest.

"As for you, you dog, an undignified location such as this fits you like the undignified man you are. A pathetic thug undeserving of the gift of life."

Inbris began to bring down his sword onto the thug's body, who screamed with desperation. Sariel fired off a shot at Inbris, but she didn't have the time to properly aim. The shot missed. However… Inbris stopped his Monado inches away from the thug's body and spat on the thug.

"You're sick…!" Sariel exclaimed. "You nearly killed him!"

Inbris chuckled.

"Says the woman who threatened to shoot the same fellow earlier. That's not much better." Inbris said in a matter of fact tone. "Idiot."

Marsh didn't say a word, but Inbris paced up to him once again. Then, he looked over to both Marsh and Sariel.

"I expect to see you two at Prison Island soon… along with those four friends of yours I saw in my vision. Consider it destined."

"Destined…" Marsh muttered. "You must be talking about a vision..."

"What are you mumbling to yourself about? Anyways… I've wasted enough valuable time here. Forgive me, but I must be off." Inbris farewelled with a wave. "I hope to see you again. I look forward to crushing you into the dirt, Marsh. You don't deserve to wield that Monado."

With that, Inbris casually strolled out of the pub, gently closing the door behind him.

"What the hell was up with that guy…?" Sariel muttered to Marsh. "He's got some beef with you, for sure. And he was talking about powers, too…"

"It's something to do with this sword," Marsh replied. "This sword lets me see 'visions' of the future."

Sariel scoffed.

"C'mon, Marsh, I'm dumb but I'm not _that_ dumb. You can't just see the future… we don't know what the future is until it's the present. So how would you just be able to see what's going to happen like that? I bet that sounds like it doesn't make sense, because… it kind of doesn't."

Marsh nodded.

"Agreed. I hardly believe it myself, but… it's completely real."

"Uh…" The bartender approached Sariel. "Excuse me, sir – I mean, miss, your drink's ready…"

Sariel grinned.

"Nice! I forgot about that!"

"Also, Sariel… you ditched that hood from earlier, huh?" Marsh said, his eyes on Sariel's cavalier hat. "I think that hat fits a gunner. In the books I read, tons of gunners have hats and all."

Meanwhile, the thugs from earlier got to their feet and regrouped with the woman in pink. They talked amongst themselves, but didn't stray outside of their area of the bar.

Sariel could only hope they'd changed their ways.

"So, how's your friend? The Nopon?" Sariel asked. "I'm guessing you've checked in on him, right?"

Marsh nodded. "Yeah… he's not going to wake up for a while."

Sariel was silent.

"He's hurt pretty bad. They said he'd live, though, and I suppose that's what matters. I just wish he wasn't hurt in the first place… it's my fault."

Marsh stood up.

"The only reason I'm still here is for Lapa, and in this state… there's not much I can do with him. So I'm going to travel through Bionis… I'm going to use this sword," Marsh held up the Monado. "I'm going to destroy each and every Mechon I can find. That's how I'm going to get justice for Lapa."

"Sorry if I've been a little silent. I'm not particularly good at talking about sad stuff like this." Sariel admitted, facing away. "You're travelling Bionis, though? Sounds fun."

"Yeah. I'm planning to head off in an hour or so, actually. I should probably say bye to you, though. You helped me out and all. So… see ya, and thanks for helping me."

And with that, Marsh simply turned away and headed for the door, rather abruptly. But Sariel quickly called out.

"That's it?" Sariel spoke. "And, anyways! Who said you were going solo? I mean, look at what happened with those Vangs and the Mechon! If it weren't for me, you'd be screwed."

Marsh smiled.

"So you want to come along? That's fine. Really… I was kind of hoping you'd say that."

* * *

 _Side Notes:_

 _From here on, the story should be picking up. New places will be appearing, new Arts will be used, stuff like that._

 _As for this chapter itself, it was Sariel focused, mainly... and I really like how it turned out. Writing Sariel is a nice change of pace and lets me show off her character a lot more. A few of the characters here were designed to be somewhat similar to in-game characters, and Sariel was made with a decently unorthodox combo in mind - Reyn, Melia, and Sharla. Unfortunately, Sariel doesn't have a 'Reyn Time' equivalent... yet._

 _I really like writing Inbris, too. He's a pompous jerk. Hopefully a mysterious pompous jerk._

 _Edit: Changed around a single word. When Marsh and Inbris attack the two thugs, it was described as a slash. That's been changed to a punch._


	6. The Adventure Begins

**_Spiran Pass_**

The duo of Marsh, the wielder of a Monado, and Sariel, a mysterious, gun wielding hunter from who knows where had begun their quest… their quest to take revenge on Mechonis.

Sariel led the way through Spiran Pass, an ether pistol in each hand as she scanned the area for potential threats. Behind her was Marsh, who gazed at the red, knife-like sword he held in his left hand… the mythical Monado. Or, rather, _a_ Monado… the mysterious man Inbris wielded one, as well.

But Marsh couldn't help but think as he stared at the blade. No other weapon could even put a dent in the armour of the Mechon. And, not even hours after finding this blade – Marsh's home was attacked by the same things the Monado was destined to defeat.

It felt incredibly coincidental, so much so that Marsh felt like it was something out of the books he was so fond of.

 _'It's weird to think I'd be taking up a weapon and travelling the world… I dreamed of it, but didn't think it'd ever happen. I just wish… I just wish it could've happened on a more positive note. With Lapa, maybe.'_

Marsh gritted his teeth.

 _'This blade can change the future. I've experienced that firsthand, but I still couldn't save Lapa... Was it even possible to save him?'_

The sound of an ether pistol being fired rung out through the cavern, echoing for quite a distance. This jolted Marsh out of being lost in thought… it took no time at all for Marsh to identify the situation.

In front of Sariel stood a large Brog, sitting in a pool of water… and blocking off a watery tunnel from both Sariel and Marsh.

Marsh watched as an ether round struck the Brog in the stomach, only for it to simply look over at Sariel and begin slowly stepping towards her.

"This one's tough," Sariel grumbled. "But I feel like – I feel like if we break it's guard, we'll be in the clear! Basically, just knock it off balance if you can!"

Marsh approached the large Brog and laid eyes upon it. It was a big creature, to say the least. It had piercing red eyes and four large, padded legs.

For a brief moment, Marsh was going to complain. It was a large beast. How was Marsh going to knock that thing off balance?

 _'Heh… I'm good at this kind of stuff. Sneaky and underhanded - that's me in a nutshell.'_

The Brog was focused on Sariel, who continued firing off shot after shot at it. While the Brog was distracted, Marsh crept up close to the beast.

The Brog's scent was unbearable. The only way Marsh could describe the foul smell was 'sweaty'. But he didn't let that distract him too much from his task.

With all his might, Marsh brought the Monado down on the Brog's right leg.

"I got you open – Guard Breaker!"

This strike cut into the Brog's flesh, knocking it off balance! This was immediately followed up with an attack from Sariel. Her right ether pistol began glowing with a green aura…

"Down! Gale Force!" Sariel cried out as a green ether shot struck the Brog, which quickly exploded with a sound that resembled a raging gale. With that, the Brog fell down onto the watery cavern floor with an enormous slam. The beast had been Toppled, and was now vulnerable to further attacks. It couldn't fight back if it couldn't stand.

An opportunity had presented itself to the duo. The defenseless Brog thrashed about on the ground, splashing water all over the place.

"Give it up! Marsh yelled, before breaking into a sprint, Monado in hand.

With a powerful jump, Marsh leapt onto the Brog's body, kicking up water… then landed with a stomp, driving the Monado into the Brog's chest with relative, surprising ease.

 _'Looks rather painful…'_ Marsh thought, as he looked over at the fallen Brog. It didn't seem to be moving, but Marsh couldn't verify if it was still alive or not. _'It looked very painful for sure...'_

"That… was brutal. Stylish, but brutal." Sariel informed. "Didn't think you had it in you… You're flashier than I thought you'd be. I thought you'd be speedy and serious. Turns out you're speedy, serious, and _stylish!_ "

"We've won already? Huh. That was way too easy. You said it was tough." Marsh spoke. "I'm a fan of how you call out your attack names. I've always liked stuff like that."

Sariel placed an arm onto the fallen Brog, checking to see if it was still alive. It didn't take long for her to shake her head… it truly had been defeated.

"Usually these things are tougher." Sariel explained. "Also, I call out my attacks so people can follow up on them. I used to be part of a team… it's important to know what your team's doing. Right? "

"Yeah." Marsh confirmed. He didn't even think of that, but it made sense to him. It was convenient, too – Marsh felt that calling out the names of their attacks added a little flair. "That's a good idea. Looks like I'll be calling out my attacks from now on..."

Marsh approached the Monado, still in the Brog's body. But as he looked over it… more questions came to him. It seemed the Monado brought many questions with it's appearance. In particular, Marsh began to think about the red Mechon responsible for the events that put Lapa into a coma.

Sariel led the way once more through the tunnel as Marsh thought, as per usual.

 _'I want to find that Mechon… and when I do, I want to steal away every last thing it has, down to its life. But I couldn't even damage it… what's different about that Mechon? It seemed bigger than the rest, but for some reason… I'm not sure that's it.'_

"Sariel, about that red Mechon from yesterday – Unit: RUBY. The Monado couldn't dent it. Do you have any ideas on _why?_ " Marsh inquired, desperate for any answers.

As soon as Marsh discovered how to defeat that Mechon, all that was left was to locate it. If he knew where it was, and how to defeat it… Marsh would travel to the ends of Bionis and even Mechonis to put an end to its life. Unit: RUBY was the main reason Marsh set off to travel Bionis... he was searching for it to end its life. It was the Mechon that led to Lapa's current, unconscious state. It wasn't the one to directly cause it - that Mechon was scrapped already. But, Unit: RUBY was the one who set the events in motion...

"Don't take my word on this, because I didn't really have much reason to care about that kind of stuff, but…" Sariel began to speak. "I'd heard about just one thing that can't be cut from the Monado. Just know I'm not sure-"

Marsh exclaimed.

"I don't care if you're not sure, Sariel! If you've got _any_ leads, just tell me!"

Sariel raised an eyebrow. "… Huh. Didn't expect that from you. You struck me as the always calm type – sorry, sorry! Crap, I didn't think when I said that!"

Marsh rolled his eyes.

"What are you talking about? And why the apologies?" Marsh asked.

"Well, you _are_ the calm type, but of course you'd be acting a little different, because your friend got hurt and all, and… yeah. I don't want to piss you off by being rude." Sariel hastily explained.

Marsh shrugged.

"Rude? Geez… you're not being rude. Now… what were you saying about the Monado? I need to know. I'm not going to let that Ruby Mechon get away with what it's done. I hope it can feel – I'll show it hell, twicefold."

"Huh. Well, that's a little darker and more twisted than I thought it would be." Sariel replied. "But yeah… again, don't quote me on this, but back in Glacerath – sis always said the Monado couldn't cut the people of Bionis. Homs, High Entia, Nopon, Giants, stuff like that."

Marsh listened intently and committed each detail to memory as best he could. He wasn't sure what 'Glacerath' was, or what a 'High Entia' was. But those details didn't matter.

What mattered was the fact that the Monado couldn't cut the people of Bionis. Sariel repeated that she wasn't sure about the validity of this claim, but Marsh had an idea.

"Sariel, you want to put that theory to the test?" Marsh tried to joke, holding onto the Monado. But Sariel's reaction was unexpected to Marsh.

"Hell yeah! Go on, hit me with your best shot!"

Marsh went to swing at Sariel, but he just couldn't bring himself to do it. It wasn't that some mysterious force was preventing him, but he just couldn't bring himself to slash at Sariel.

 _'… Why the hell'd she have to agree to this?! She's kind of a friend now, but I thought she'd say something like 'hell no, Marsh! Hit yourself!' Dammit… what do I do?'_

"Come on, Marsh! Just do it! You chicken or something?"

Reluctantly, Marsh swung the Monado forth towards Sariel – though this turned out to be a fake out, as he pulled the blade towards his own leg forcefully.

 _'I'm screwed if she's wrong. If that's the case, this blade better give me a vision.'_

As it would turn out, Marsh didn't have a vision, and instead the blade struck his leg, and quickly bounced off harmlessly. It was strange seeing a powerful looking blade such as the Monado be completely ineffective towards anything.

"You went for yourself, Marsh? How polite!" Sariel jested. "I can take a hit, you know."

"Hey, you're kind of a friend now. It'd feel weird to swing at someone who's kind of your friend..."

 _'If I could, I would've taken that hit for Lapa… I wish that were an option. I'd take it in a heartbeat…'_

"Uh, 'kind of a friend'? Marsh, I didn't know you were such an ungrateful prick. How many times have I saved your life? And I've only known you for like, a day! Damn, Marsh!" Sariel feigned offense. "That didn't come off as serious, did it? Just know that was a joke, alright?"

Marsh laughed… then his expression changed to a more serious one as he shifted the topic away from their antics, and back to the spiderlike ruby Mechon, Unit: RUBY.

"So the Monado can't cut the people of Bionis. It bounces off them harmlessly." Marsh went over what he was told once again. "The same thing happened against that Mechon… can't even imagine why."

Sariel nodded, as she began travelling down the watery Spiran Pass tunnel once again. She didn't say a word as Marsh continued speaking, and instead let him discuss.

"I've got two theories. The more likely one is that those Mechon have tougher armour. The second one… hear me out on this."

"Yup, listening."

"When I hit myself, the same thing happened as when I hit that mechon. It was exactly the same. So what if… those Mechon have people inside?" Marsh suggested. "That's the more unlikely theory. There's screwed up people on Bionis, but nobody screwed up enough to side with the enemy. I can tell you that much."

Sariel turned to look over at Marsh, a quizzical look on her face as she adjusted her hat.

"That second theory is the dumbest thing I've heard." Sariel admitted. "I mean, it makes sense and explains why the Monado didn't affect them, but nothing else in the theory does. Theory 1's definitely on the mark, I reckon."

And with that, the duo continued traversing the watery tunnel. The water wasn't particularly deep, thankfully – it only reached up to one's shoes. This was only a mild irritation to Marsh and Sariel.

Out of the corner of his eye, Marsh noticed something on the walls of the tunnel. There was a small groove in the wall, and within that groove was something that glittered like gold.

Sariel went on ahead, not noticing that Marsh was distracted once again.

Marsh discovered that the golden object was a small chunk of rock. This was a popular object in Colony 9, particularly for use as a building material. It was something known as a Kneecap Rock – which were only found within areas situated on the Bionis's Kneecap, as the name suggested. In particular, two such areas were Spiran Pass… and the other cavern that connected to it, Tephra Cave.

Marsh placed the Kneecap Rock into his pocket and began to catch up with Sariel. Each step he took made an audible splashing noise.

It didn't take too long for Marsh and Sariel to find a new area of Spiran Pass, which was thankfully out of the watery tunnels. However, there was only a single path for the two to take, which led to the left. As Sariel approached this solitary path, she accidentally kicked a rock into a nearby wall, creating quite a loud noise.

"Aren?! I sure hope that's you!" A meek voice seemingly belonging to a male exclaimed, echoing throughout the cavern. Immediately, Sariel took aim with her ether pistols, in anticipation of a possible new enemy.

Quietly, Sariel muttered.

"Aren…? I swear that's the name of… somebody. Can't remember much more than that…"

"A-Aren?! Did you make that sound?!" The meek voice cried out once more. Marsh thought they sounded afraid, but that wasn't their problem. "If you're not, then… just don't hurt me, alright?!"

"'Aren' isn't with us. We're not going to lay a hand on you, as long as you don't do anything stupid." Marsh responded to the meek voice.

The meek voice was silent for a moment. Shortly afterwards, Sariel and Marsh could hear the sound of footsteps approaching them.

A face peeked out from a corner of the cavern, only to scream and duck away almost immediately. This confused Sariel, but Marsh simply placed a palm onto his face in disbelief.

"W-we said we're not here to hurt you!" Sariel repeated.

"Alright, Sariel, I'm just going to let you have a little think about why you scared that guy off." Marsh uttered.

Sariel shook her head. "I can't see why. We said we weren't going to hurt him, right? Maybe he didn't hear us?"

Marsh turned away.

"Mixed messages, Sariel."

"What's that mean here? A mixed message is like, conflicting information, isn't it?"

"If you say you're not going to hurt someone, then pointing a gun at them is a bit of a mixed message. And pointing two guns –"

Sariel growled, and slowly lowered her ether pistols and glared at Marsh.

"Okay, okay, I get it! Why do you have to explain it like that?! It makes you sound like a bit of a douche."

The meek boy peeked his head around the corner once again, but didn't dart away. Instead, they looked at Marsh and Sariel, seemingly analysing them.

Marsh looked back at the boy, causing the boy to look away hastily. Marsh noticed that the boy had ginger hair, and was wearing an orange shirt. His hair was rather neat, as well. Notably, the boy didn't seem very old at all… Marsh speculated the boy was not far into his teens… at most, Marsh thought he was fourteen, and at least, twelve.

"I thought you were gonna shoot me for sure… you need to listen to that black haired guy with the Monado." The young boy admitted, eyes on the Monado. "How'd you get the Monado, um… sir?"

"I just found it lying around." Marsh replied nonchalantly.

"You're not clever, sir. A legendary sword like that wouldn't be lying around…"

"Watch it, kiddo. I'm telling you the truth. Or, do you want me to lie?" Marsh responded with a biting tone. "How about you tell me about the Monado?"

Sariel laughed.

"Marsh, you're acting pretty immature right now. That kid's got you all riled up."

Marsh grunted, but didn't say anything.

"You sound like a smart cookie, though… do you know anything about this sword, though? We call it the 'Monado'. It's an, uh… slashy sword that kills the bad guys." Sariel attempted to explain, and changed her tone to one someone might use to talk to a child or an animal.

The ginger haired kid looked at Sariel in disbelief. Sariel's performance didn't accomplish much but annoying the young boy, and amusing Marsh.

"Uh, miss or sir… sorry, but are you stupid? I know what a Monado is. And don't talk to me like that…!" Marsh noticed the boy had a refined way of speaking, but he couldn't help but feel the boy was a little up himself, so to speak. "And I thought Aren was bad…"

Marsh felt it'd be best if he talked with the young boy instead of Sariel, especially with her latest display.

"'Aren?' How about we find him for you? In return, you tell us stuff about the Monado." Marsh bargained. "If we find this Aren, you're going to tell us anything you know about the Monado. And if you try to weasel out of it-"

"Why do you not just go find Aren for me? I'm not an adult… and you're trying to bargain with me."

Marsh sighed.

"Why would we do that?"

The ginger haired boy looked up at Marsh, with a smug look on his face. He was moments away from saying something, but Sariel piped up before the boy could even start to speak.

"Look… we'll find this Aren guy for you. You don't have to give us anything… we'd like it if you did tell us about the Monado, though. Only if you know about it, though."

The ginger haired boy glanced over at Sariel with a nod and a static, unchanging expression. Shortly afterwards, he turned around and pointed to a new area of Spiran Pass behind him. It was a large cavern… it was the largest cavern yet.

"So we're finding this Aren guy for you, and there's no guarantee you're going to repay us?" Marsh spoke to the boy.

"Quit saying you'll find him already. I get it, you don't need to tell me this many times, okay?" The boy whined. "Anyways… Aren shouldn't be too far away. He told me to stay put here, but…"

Marsh bit his lip. This kid was proving to become an annoyance very, very quickly. To make matters worse, he'd been roped into a quest. There wasn't even a guarantee that the boy even knew anything more about the Monado. Marsh was certain that if he and Sariel did this task for the kid, he'd smugly reveal that he doesn't know much about the Monado, aside from its name.

Cursing under his breath, Marsh followed Sariel as she entered the next cavern. He was surprised to hear small footsteps behind him. A glance revealed that the boy was now following Marsh and Sariel into the cavern.

"Why are you following us? Don't be stupid." Marsh hissed at the young boy.

"You're looking for Aren, right? You're going to get him so he can protect me. So in that case, why would you leave me back there? That's putting me in danger and –"

Marsh groaned. He was not particularly keen on talking with the boy, but he did so anyways. "Enough already. You can come with us on two conditions – first, that you don't get in the way, and second – you drop that attitude."

The boy opened his mouth to say something, but he stopped himself before he did.

"So, kid… what's your name?" Sariel said to the ginger haired boy with a voice of curiosity. "Calling you kid all the time is… I don't know how to put it…"

The boy looked at Sariel, and started to wildly gesture with his hands. Marsh noticed this.

 _'Seriously? What a pain.'_

"You can talk, kid. Just don't be annoying and you'll be fine." Marsh assured.

"Thanks," The boy replied quickly, in a hushed tone. "My name is Reece. I've got a sister called Larane, and you could call Aren my brother… I guess."

Reece immediately stopped talking. Marsh found that he liked Reece a lot more when he was quieter.

Marsh adjusted his attention away from his new 'companion', and instead scanned the surrounding area. As per the norm with Spiran Pass, he found that he was in a cave – a rather large, yet barren one, though the walls were covered with dark green moss. No creatures seemed to lurk within, though the centre of the cavern was sloped.

Marsh noticed that if one were to fall down said slope… what appeared to be a pit awaited in the centre of the room. Wherever it led, Marsh didn't know.

And he didn't particularly want to find out. But avoiding this sloped area wasn't going to be so easy, for there was no other way to progress further into Spiran Pass.

"I've never been to this area of Spiran Pass." Sariel mumbled, sounding both irritated and confused. "It kind of gives me the creeps…"

To the surprise of both Marsh and Sariel, however, Reece stepped close to the circular slope leading to the pit.

"You guys don't know what this is, right?" Reece asked, pointing at the hole. "This is an Antol Den. Antols dig out these areas, to form a slope. In the centre of that slope is a hole, where prey falls in… they become a meal for the Antols. That's part of why I didn't follow Aren."

Sariel grinned.

"An Antol Den, huh…? No need to worry. I've got just the thing for a situation like this."

Sariel reached into her pockets and immediately pulled out a small, circular object with a red and yellow colour scheme. It resembled a form of grenade.

"You're kidding…" Marsh looked up at Sariel's face. She had a faint grin, leaving Marsh unable to decipher just what Sariel was thinking. "Right?"

"That's an awful idea-" Reece was interrupted.

"Think about it. Antols hate fire. And this here's a firebomb. I made it myself, too… so I know what it can and can't do. Trust me." Sariel assured. "If we try to get through now, we're probably going to wake the hell up out of the Antols. They'll be swarming us like Caterpiles to… I don't know, but you know what I mean."

" _No we don't!"_ Marsh hissed. "Look, Sariel… I'm sorry, but this is an awful idea!"

With a frown, Sariel closed her eyes and began to speak.

"Trust me, Marsh! I saved your life like, two times! If we don't do this, then we're in trouble."

"How about we just head down some other path? One without these Antol nests!" Marsh added. "Wouldn't that spare us this whole argument?"

Reece piped up.

"We're looking for Aren… and this is the way he took. As far as I know, there's no other way to reach him."

Marsh sighed, then looked over at Sariel. Her eyes were closed, and she seemed to clutch the firebomb in her hand tighter and tighter.

Sariel opened her eyes and looked upon the Antol Den, firebomb still in hand.

"I bet you guys think I'm stupid for even suggesting that, huh?" Sariel prepared to throw the firebomb, to Marsh and Reece's shock.

"Don't!" Marsh ordered, but to no avail.

"Just listen to me! I know what I'm doing!"

With those words, Sariel lobbed the firebomb directly into the pit of Antols. The firebomb hit the bottom of the pit with quite an audible thunk… this was followed up by a bang.

"You moron!" Marsh yelled to his travelling partner, Sariel. "We need to make a break for it, _now!"_

Sariel was the first to cross the sloped pit that led to the Antol den below, and she did so with remarkable ease. Once she crossed that pit, she waited at the path awaiting on the other side for Marsh and Reece.

Marsh knew he could've crossed the pit with ease, but there was another problem presenting itself… Reece. Marsh knew that both he and Sariel could cross this Antol den with ease, but the boy most likely wasn't. One slip, and the boy would fall into the lair of the now flaming Antols. Marsh didn't particularly like the boy's attitude, but he knew, deep down… he couldn't just let that happen.

 _'Time to be a hero.'_ Thought Marsh.

Marsh grabbed onto Reece's hand and quickly delivered an order. "Hold on, and follow my lead." With that, Marsh rushed onto the sloped terrain, taking step after step on the uneven terrain, Reece following close behind him, trying to imitate every move Marsh took. Reece was accomplishing this surprisingly well, but… eventually, Marsh's speed led Reece to misstep and lose his grip.

Reece was still hanging onto Marsh's arm, but this didn't stop a feeling of dread from washing over Marsh. He looked over his shoulder, and noticed that Reece had fallen onto the slope. He was falling… and he was pulling Marsh, too.

It was then that the young Reece purposely let go of Marsh's arm as he slid faster and faster into the pit, uttering not a word.

 _'Stupid kid! What's he think he's doing?!'_

Marsh recklessly dived down the slope, his legs and arms positioned to catch himself on the slope as soon as he landed. He landed with some difficulty, due to the uneven terrain, bruising his legs and arms. This didn't stop Marsh from reaching out for Reece's body, in an attempt to save him.

Marsh's hand caught hold of Reece's arm with the dexterous grace he'd trained for the past year. But Marsh knew he wasn't out of the woods yet. He needed to pull Reece up as soon as he could.

Matters only grew more dangerous as the first of the Antols emerged from the den, with their skittering legs and dozens of eyes. And, sure enough… they were cloaked in an intense fire. Notably, they seemed to be yellow – marking them as Antol who were not normally aggressive.

One of the flaming Antols nipped at Reece's legs with its pincers. In order to counteract this, Marsh used all his strength to pull Reece further up the slope.

As Marsh pulled Reece up the slope, he noticed ether shots striking at any Antols who got too close to Reece. _'I can't believe this… at least she's helping now.'_ Marsh thought.

One Antol skittered up to Reece, its flaming pincers ready to bite onto the young boy's leg. Sariel fired off an ether shot, but… to no avail. It missed the mark. Marsh didn't see Sariel miss much – was she under pressure?

But due to this error, the Antol's pincers dug into Reece's leg, making the boy scream out in pain.

"Dammit…!" Marsh yelled out. "Just hold out, and I'll get you outta here, alright?!"

Marsh's vision went blurry as he pulled Reece further and further up the sloped Antol pit, where the group of flaming Antols continued their pursuit… and not only that, but more and more Antols seemed to have joined the chase. But what Marsh noticed was that time itself was moving slower… until it stopped entirely, along with his body.

 _'Why're my eyes failing me now?!'_ Marsh thought to himself. _'No… this is…! A vision!'_

Marsh's eyes forced themselves shut, only to open themselves shortly afterwards. Marsh found himself on the other side of the Antol pit, and could see himself pulling Reece up the Antol pit, along with Sariel aiming with both ether pistols towards the group of flaming Antols.

Marsh could see himself pull Reece up to the top of the slope, where Reece clumsily got to his feet. However, an Antol rushed up to the young boy, its jaws snapping in preparation for its attack.

Nobody was able to stop the Antol from its next attack in the vision. It rushed up to Reece's foot, then snapped its jaws directly onto Reece's foot, knocking him down with an ear-piercing scream. His foot bled from the sicissor-like cut inflicted by the Antol.

Marsh remained in his vision state for a few seconds, in which he thought over how he could stop that future.

 _'One of the Antols is going to do that attack, but which one?!'_

Marsh recalled seeing three Antols leading the pack. One on the left, one on the right, and one in the centre. But which one was it?

His mind moved fast as he put together any more details. At the present moment, the three Antols leading the pack were roughly all in a line. Along with that, the closest Antol to Reece was the one on the left.

If the Antols were all going for the same target, then chances were the first one to reach said target – was going to be the fastest one. However, all of them seemed to be going at the same speed.

The vision then ended, catapulting Marsh back into his previous position of pulling Reece up the slope. If he didn't do something to stop that future, then Reece was likely going to die...

 _'Antol on the left… Antol on the left!'_

"Sariel!" Marsh called out, with a commanding voice. "Focus on the left one from your perspective! Your second target's the one on the centre! And concentrate!"

"Guess it's me who's gotta concentrate this time, huh?!" Sariel spoke, embarrassed. "I'll try my best!"

A volley of two ether shots were let loose towards the Antol on the left… and miraculously, they both struck the Antol, knocking it back down the slope slightly!

Reece reached the top of the slope, thanks to Marsh pulling him up. As he did before, he got to his feet. The Antol that had struck him in the vision had been set back… hadn't it?

But as Reece stood himself up, he fell back down. Marsh cursed under his breath… he'd forgotten one essential detail.

 _'Earlier, an Antol bit his leg… he's going to have trouble walking… dammit!'_

But now, Marsh was free to use his arms and the Monado against the Antols, instead of using both arms to pull up Reece. Grabbing the Monado from his back, Marsh activated the Monado's ether blade quickly, then stepped in front of Reece.

Marsh swept at the Antols with the Monado, knocking them back slightly. But this wasn't his final course of action.

"Here we go, Monado…" Marsh's voice gradually grew louder as he pointed the Monado, as if it were a rifle, towards the hordes of Antols. "Shooter! I'll blast you things away!"

Energy from the Monado's blade shot off like lasers to the horde of the skittering and scorching Antols, dealing ether damage to the dangerous insects. Unfortunately, this attack only hit six of the Antols… in total, there were eleven and counting.

But this, along with Sariel's ranged support, allowed Reece to get to his feet and run away from the pack of Antols. This motioned Sariel to flee, as well… and the loud footsteps alerted Marsh to his teammate's actions. Following after his teammates, Marsh smiled slightly.

 _'I saved that kid… I'm glad I saved someone with it. I just wish I could've saved Lapa… but that doesn't matter now.'_

"Kid, we're going to jump!" Sariel spoke out of the blue. Marsh heard this, and wasn't sure what Sariel was speaking about. What they were going to jump was a mystery to him.

Sariel then leapt off a ledge on the path the trio had taken to evade the flaming Antol horde. Nervously, Reece stopped at the ledge.

Marsh quickly caught up to the boy… and he stopped, too. He didn't say a word as he looked down the ledge, revealing a large lake of water below in an even larger cavern.

 _'It's been a while since I did a jump like this.'_

Seeing no other path to take, Marsh grabbed Reece's arm, who protested immediately…

And he then leapt down into the lake. Sariel was the first to hit the water, which was followed by Marsh and Reece.

"I-I'm rather thankful there was water here." Sariel nervously uttered, in her more refined tone. "I did not know…"

"You're the most reckless person I know." Marsh groaned with annoyance. "First that fire thing, and now this? You could've died."

"Yes… I'm sorry about that firebomb." Sariel said, apologetically. "I thought it was a good idea, but… evidently, it wasn't."

Marsh looked up at the ledge above. It was a large drop… Marsh calculated that it would be a 12 metre drop, directly into water. He then looked at his companions.

Reece's eyes were closed, to not get any water into them.

Sariel, however… Marsh noticed something very interesting about Sariel.

Sariel's hat had fallen off during the fall, it seemed… revealing Sariel's short, grey hair. This was only mildly interesting to Marsh. No – what was much more interesting was the bright white, short wings on Sariel's head.

"Sariel… what are those?"

"… What are you talking about?" Sariel inquired.

Marsh pointed at Sariel's head. "Those!"

Sariel put a hand onto her hair.

"Oh. These are what you're talking about." Sariel blankly muttered, only to speak once more in a much more worried tone. "Oh crap, crap, crap! Why'd this have to happen?!"

"So you like wearing wings on your head, so what." Marsh responded, nonchalantly. "I don't see what's so weird about that."

Sariel shook her head. "These aren't an accessory… these are one hundred percent real. Do you even know what they mean?"

Reece was silent, but mouthed something.

On the other hand, Marsh replied with a no.

"… I may as well tell you. But first, can we get out of this lake? It's bloody cold..."

* * *

The trio didn't waste any time in exiting the lake of freezing water. It didn't take much time at all for the three to set foot onto land once more, onto the rocky terrain of Spiran Pass.

Currently, Marsh, Sariel and Reece were situated in an enormous cavern. Stalactites hung from the ceiling, as if they were icicles, while enormous stalagmites littered the ground, as if they were spikes.

Off in the distance, Marsh caught sight of what seemed to be a pit, which seemed to lead downwards. But, to his dismay… there didn't seem to be any other ways to progress through the caves. No other tunnels were present, and the cliff the trio had leapt from was far too inaccessible to reach now.

"So you guys don't know about the High Entia, right…? I promised I'd tell you guys, so I may as well." Sariel led the pack, as per usual. "Also… sorry again about the firebomb thing."

Marsh shrugged. "Yeah, that was incredibly stupid, but we're all fine, aren't we?"

Reece tapped his leg loudly.

"One of them bit my leg. It hurts to walk…" Reece spoke as if he wasn't hurt in the slightest. Marsh was surprised, though… the boy had been running with himself and Sariel perfectly fine. It seemed he was toughing out the pain.

"Just be careful," Marsh assured. "Don't do anything stupid. If walking gets tough, say something."

Sariel leaned back against a cavern wall, a single ether pistol in hand. She inspected it thoroughly, in search of any scratches or damage that the weapon may have sustained.

Sariel adjusted her gaze to the pit in the large cavern they were in. It seemed to have a path leading down it, adorned with torches…

Rushing over with haste, Sariel noticed something about the design of the torches. The torches themselves seemed to be made of a white and blue stone material. There was text on the torch, which was in a foreign language… It looked familiar to Sariel.

It then struck her – she knew where they were.

"Remember how I was talking about the High Entia, you two?" Sariel excitedly exclaimed. "These torches are made by the High Entia… this is one of their routes through the Bionis!"

Reece and Marsh both scratched their heads in confusion.

"Routes through the Bionis…?" Reece questioned in disbelief. "I thought they lived high up…"

Sariel nodded. "Yeah, most of them do. But some of them live inside the Bionis itself. It's not a well known fact… we keep ourselves hidden. This tunnel here, though – it's a path, called Glace-Javena. And, if I remember right… it leads to my home."

As she said this, Sariel had a grim look on her face. Marsh thought it'd be best not to ask, but… it seemed as if she didn't like her home.

The group was silent. Sariel headed back to the cavern walls to lean back and relax, while Marsh simply sat down on the cave's floor. He placed the Monado idle on the ground.

As for Reece… he ran off down the downwards path immediately.

"What're you doing?!" Marsh and Sariel cried out, but he didn't respond.

Both Marsh and Sariel rushed over to the path, and swiftly noticed Reece standing before an enormous, white haired man… an enormous white haired man with two metallic arms, which shone.

 _'Metal arms…? No… he's not a Mechon, is he?'_

Marsh headed back to the Monado, picked it up, then begun to make his way over to the metallic armed man, almost casually. Sariel followed along.

"You two! This is Aren." Reece called out. "He's looked after me for years. Thanks for helping me find him! I owe you, don't I?"

The metallic armed man, who Marsh now knew as Aren didn't say a word – though he kept an eye on Marsh and the Monado. He seemed intrigued.

"Aren… now I know who you are! You're one of the heroes from Sword Valley!" Sariel exclaimed. "That's pretty cool! And those arms… no wonder you're a hero."

"'Hero'? With how that battle went, not many people call me that." Aren calmly replied. "You guys took Reece to me, though…? Heh – I think that makes you lot the real heroes. Couldn't get to him myself. I've been stuck down here."

Aren stepped over to Marsh… who noticed just how big Aren was. Marsh knew he was roughly five feet and six inches… and looking at Aren, Marsh estimated that the man was six feet and six inches. He was practically a giant… he towered over Marsh, Sariel, and especially the young Reece.

"That's the Monado, ain't it? Looks a little different than I remember, but my friend Bearce used to use that thing. After the battle, he ditched it… Guess you got a hold of it now."

Marsh didn't know what to say to this. It was interesting – someone else had wielded the Monado in the past, this Bearce fellow.

"Uh… that was what I was going to tell you, Marsh, as part of our deal. That's all I had." Reece nervously muttered. "Sorry."

Truth be told, Marsh had forgotten about their deal… but it didn't really matter now.

Suddenly, Aren cracked his knuckles out of the blue. Despite being metallic, they seemed to function almost exactly the same as the arms of a Homs.

"You guys fighters? If we can get out of here… I'll beat any monster who comes out to a pulp. You got my word on that, alright? These arms are good for practically everythin'." Aren smashed his knuckles together with a metallic clang. "'Aight, so we just need a way outta here. There's some huge door at the end of this road, but it won't open. Tried punching it, blowing it up – nothin' works, so if you lot have any ideas, try 'em out."

"Don't worry. I know how these tunnels work. Only the High Entia – no, certain people can go through them. They need a special emblem… and my sister gave me one. We're set." Sariel informed. "That door should lead to Glace-Javena… there's a fair few monsters there, so be on the lookout!"

"Monsters? I was hopin' you'd say that. Never been to this Glace-Javena place, but if it's got monsters – I'm in."

And with that, the group had grown to four strong. They travelled to the end of the path, which was barren of anything interesting…

Until they came across an enormous door. Marsh estimated it was ten feet in size. It was bright white, as if made of marble – and blue streaks seemed to dance across it.

"Aight, lady, you do what you need to do with this door. Punching it didn't work, so I'm outta options."

Sariel nodded, then grabbed a small emblem out of her pocket. But she suddenly turned to face Aren…

"Lady…? How'd you tell?" Sariel asked, as she held the emblem against the door. "Eh… doesn't matter."

In seconds, the door slid down into the earth with a thundering roar. What lied behind the door was revealed to the party…

It didn't look like a cave at all. No – it looked more like a forest than anything. Verdant green grass decorated the ground, with bright flowers of all sorts of colours sitting on the ground. Large waterfalls flowed into pools of water.

The area seemed to have a strange, green glow to it, as well. It was strange to Marsh… how did a forest exist within the Bionis?

"Welcome to Glace-Javena… we're inside the Bionis." Sariel explained. "This is one of the many routes created by my people. One of the few good things they've made…"


	7. Garal-Javena - Mysterious Land

The group of four looked upon the newly revealed route of Garal-Javena. Despite being inside a cavern, it resembled a lush green forest, complete with trees, flowers, and crashing waterfalls.

The team looked upon the area with awe. It was unlike anything Marsh, Aren and Reece had ever seen before.

"So this is what's inside the Bionis?" Marsh gazed upon the verdant green cavern full of life. He didn't know that a cave could house so much life. "I've never heard anything about something like this, though."

"Count me in on that, too…" Aren added. "Would've thought someone would have said something about this."

"Me three. I do a lot of reading, but I've never seen anything about a place like this." Reece mumbled.

"Of course you guys haven't heard anything about these. My people keep these places a secret from the world. They're those types of guys." Sariel notified with a frown. "These places _are_ useful, but nobody gets to use them but a few. Not really fair."

The group stood in silence temporarily as they gazed at the cavern route, Garal-Javena. Then, they set foot into the grassy cavern.

Previously, the group had been warned of creatures that lurked within Garal-Javena. Aren kept a close lookout for any such beasts. He hoped to encounter some form of monster, in order to get a good fight in. The metal-armed pugilist had been itching for any fight.

On the other hand, Marsh also kept an eye out. He too wanted to look out for any beasts that may lurk in the area, but he didn't particularly want to fight them. It would simply cause more of a hassle, he thought.

Marsh and Aren caught a glance of Reece, however, who headed over to what seemed to be an innocuous tree. Nothing about it seemed unusual… it seemed to be made of brown wood, and had verdant green leaves.

"It's so cool that there's trees down here… I never would have believed it." Reece spoke, and placed a hand onto the tree. "It's a regular tree… I thought it'd be made of stone or something."

Marsh scratched his head, confused. "Why would it be made of stone…? That doesn't make any sense."

"Well… trees need sunlight to grow, but we're inside the Bionis. There's no sun." Reece explained. "Isn't that a little weird?"

Now that Reece mentioned it, this piqued Marsh's interest. He couldn't think of any reason trees would grow inside the Bionis… it was true, they didn't have any sunlight. The Bionis was a weird place…

Sariel brought a hand to her chin temporarily.

"There's an explanation for it, but… I'm damned if I know. I wasn't interested in that stuff. They just grow down here and that's all I need to know."

"Hey, check out those rocks. They look pretty real, huh?" Aren squatted down, placing his metal gauntlet-covered hands onto the ground to support himself. "Missy, this is a real weird place."

Sariel gasped, grabbing hold of her dual pistols immediately.

"Holy cra-" Sariel cut herself off as she placed her gaze onto the rocks… but pointed them away almost immediately with a sigh of relief. "My bad...! There's a weird rumour back home about those things… it really creeps me out."

Reece stepped up to Sariel.

"Rumour?" Reece inquired.

"Nah… don't worry about it. It's goofy as hell… just a myth to get cheeky kids to not run away. Sis always told me that kinda stuff. Guess it stuck with me." Sariel looked at the ground. "So don't worry about it."

"No reason not to tell us…" Marsh responded.

Rolling her eyes, Sariel looked to her side, then to the stone that resembled a creature. Marsh followed suit, and analysed the stone.

It seemed to resemble a type of creature Marsh had heard about – the Feris species, a vaguely feline-like beast that lurked within Makna, or rather, Lagrop Forest. But Marsh could tell – Marsh could tell something about it was putting Sariel on edge.

Suddenly, Marsh felt as if he'd figured it out. Rumour had it that there were creatures that utilized camouflage to resemble an inanimate stone. Was this stone Feris one of those creatures?

As Marsh thought this over, he felt as if something was off. A shiver rolled down his spine, one of what he could only presume was dread.

Marsh looked over to his companions. Aren had one of his gauntlets on his head, as if he had a light migraine, while Sariel narrowed her eyes… then suddenly reached for her two ether pistols in a frenzy. She moved her hands incredibly quickly, to get the pistols as quickly as she could, but failed to grasp them at first, instead grabbing at her jacket.

"Something's wrong... _I can feel it!_ " Marsh exclaimed. "But I don't know what…!"

"You too, huh? Something's goin' on with this place. 'Don't think it's any monster or whatever… I can't see anything anywhere." Aren mumbled slowly, fist still on his head. There was the slightest instance of pain in his voice. "This headache's messin' me up. Maybe that's what's got me on edge."

Aren looked over at Reece, who was shivering wildly.

"Reece! Keep close to me!" Aren ordered… which was followed up by an enormous thud, as if an enormous stone had smashed into the ground.

Marsh and Sariel glanced over at the door they'd entered through to access Garal-Javena, fearing the worst. Marsh wildly tried to recall... wasn't the door large and made of stone? If it were to slam shut, then it would be capable of making a booming noise like the one that presently echoed throughout Garal-Javena.

"Holy crap… you're kidding me…!" Sariel screamed. "That's not supposed to happen! What the hell's up with this place?!"

"Missy… you took us here. Everything about this place feels wrong to both me, Reece, and your travelling partner… and now the door's slammed shut on us. I don't wanna go accusin' you of being some murderous mastermind or whatever, but… you'd better have a _damn_ good explanation for all this. Because frankly, it sounds like you're hidin' something from us."

"I-I can open the door again…"

Aren hastily, but briefly replied to Sariel's notification. "Oh."

"But what are you saying with all that crap? You seriously think I'm gonna kill the three of you in here…?" Sariel asked. "I'm just going to ignore that and say I'm just as creeped out as you guys. Something's different from the last time I visited, but… I can't tell what. It's probably just that rumour I was talking about."

"Can you just tell us the rumour already…?" Reece groaned impatiently, still standing by Aren's side as he scanned the area. "Why aren't you telling us?"

Sariel was silent. In fact, the whole group was silent as they waited for her to explain. It took her a while to speak, but she did, eventually.

"It really doesn't matter. It's a myth of my people… it's crazy crap to keep children at home, to keep them out of this place. Now anyways, let's just go already!"

Marsh watched Sariel closely as she spoke. And she seemed to shiver ever so slightly… what was troubling her? Garal-Javena had a particular aura about it… it was unlike any other place Marsh had set foot in. It was almost otherworldly.

Aren and Reece followed close behind Sariel, leaving Marsh behind.

 _'I really need to stop getting distracted.'_

Marsh trailed behind Aren, Reece, and Sariel. Sariel rushed by the stone Feris statue, quickly taking at it out of the blue. When Aren and Reece reached it, they instead stopped to investigate it. Marsh joined them in these endeavour as Sariel continued running further into Garal-Javena.

"Sariel!" Marsh called out. "Quit being so reckless! Get back here!" He spoke with an ordering tone to the runaway, sprinting Sariel, then looked over at the stone Feris.

Aren reached out onto a small, wooden torch by the stone Feris, extending forth a single, bulky, metallic finger onto the torch. Marsh could tell he was being careful not to damage the torch in any way.

Meanwhile, Reece investigated the stone Feris itself, placing his hand onto the rocky beast's mane. Marsh reached out as soon as he did this, in fear that the beast would come alive and attack, like something out of a novel, but… it didn't. It stood still, unflinching like a loyal beast or a trainer soldier.

"Have to wonder what these torches are doin' here. Ain't hard to see in here." Aren quietly mumbled. "It ain't lit, too. The torches back there were though. They must've been lit recently… they forgot about this one, it looks."

"You're right, but they're just torches. On, off, who cares? This place is light enough already…" Marsh replied. "This stone Feris though… what's that doing here, in a cave like this?"

Marsh gazed at his surroundings, showing off the lush, forested cavern once more, abound with waterfalls and rocks… though none even resembled the stone Feris. It was if someone had sculpted the stone Feris statue, then placed it in the cavern.

For a brief moment, Marsh entertained the thought of selling it. It would no doubt sell for a high price, but that was if one could get it out of Garal-Javena. Marsh doubted even Aren could lift the thing, but didn't ask. He felt that Aren may have seriously considered it.

Aren then clutched his head, once more, and fell to the ground.

"A-Aren!" Reece cried out. "Are you okay?!"

"Yeah. Headache's playin' up again, though."

Aren placed one of his hands onto the ground, then forced himself to his feet slowly, his eyes closed… and his other hand still on his head. Aren's headache seemed to be causing quite a lot of trouble for him, and it wasn't the best introduction for a pugilist who had been seeking out fights.

Marsh looked upon Aren, still struggling to get back to his feet. Reece was by his side, trying his best to support his friend by trying to hold him up, though he struggled.

Briefly, Marsh thought about assisting Reece with lifting Aren. But something sudden, something strange had caught his attention. It wasn't an object or a creature, no. It was a sound that was similar to that of a beast's roar.

Marsh readied the Monado. There was something in the caverns of Garal-Javena with them. Something they didn't know.

Aren forced himself to his feet, tearing his arm away from his aching head and getting to his feet. Both he and Marsh scanned the area for their enemy, but they were nowhere to be seen. As for Sariel, she held both ether pistols out and seemed to be in a cold sweat. She couldn't stop taking quick glances around the cavern, as if she could sense something's presence.

As if out of nowhere, Sariel fired an ether round from her right ether pistol out of the blue. She didn't seem to have a target, as her shot simply flew to the natural and green Garal-Javena's walls, where the shot dissipated swiftly. She didn't seem to have a target.

"W-we're screwed! They're probably everywhere!" Sariel exclaimed. It was clear to Marsh that something was on her nerves. It'd been clear for a while.

"Probably…?" Marsh parroted. "What are you talking about?"

Sariel fired off another shot, and this time, the shot flew towards a waterfall.

"The statue!" Sariel yelled. "As soon as I saw it, that's when I realized…!"

"It's just a statue." Reece mumbled, placing a hand onto the statue. It felt exactly what one would think a stone statue would feel like.

 _'… Is it just a statue, though?'_

Something was evidently wrong. Sariel had been acting strange and talking of a rumour. It was evidently something that was eating away at Sariel, without a shadow of a doubt – as evidenced by her suddenly firing at the walls. Marsh didn't know why she'd brought up the statue, however. Keen to find out, though, Marsh approached the Feris sculpted out of stone, which stood guard, unmoving. Standing by its side was the young Reece, who wore a particular expression of fear on his face as he frowned.

Nothing was off about the statue. It was completely unmoving, and resembled a Feris almost to a tee. The unlit torches by its side were strange, however, though they had no importance to Marsh's investigation. Other than the statue's placement in a cavern, there wasn't anything off about the statue, or so it seemed.

 _'In books, I've heard of monsters which turn to and from stone. So, maybe...'_

Marsh held the Monado over the statue of the Feris, its ether blade flaring up instantaneously, showing that it was ready for use.

 _'If I shatter this statue, it'll show us if there's something up with this statue.'_ Marsh thought. _'If it really is living – then we'll see once we divide it by two.'_

Bringing the Monado and its blade of ether down onto the centre of the stone Feris's body, Marsh utilized all his strength…

But as soon as the blade struck the stone Feris, Marsh had another vision. As per usual, his vision began to fade out, only to reveal a new scene.

In this vision, Marsh could see his three travelling companions and himself. He noticed that Reece was speaking, but he couldn't hear _what_ he was saying, for an unknown reason.

Replying to Reece, Aren called out. "Reece! Hang in there!"

Aren dashed over to his young friend, but something unforeseen brought itself to the forefront. Something that Marsh didn't expect.

Marsh kept his eye on Reece. The visions seemed to have a common theme that someone was hurt in them… so what was going to happen to Reece?

It was then that the unbelievable happened. A white light engulfed Reece, blinding all the onlookers – the Marsh in the vision, Aren, and even Sariel, who looked on… along with the Marsh witnessing the vision. The white light didn't linger for much longer though, as it dissipated in a rather short time, revealing…

Absolutely nothing. Reece was gone. And that was where the vision cut off, which sent Marsh back into reality, at the exact moment when the Monado struck the Feris. All the power he'd put into the strike had disappeared as the Monado struck the stone Feris and didn't even chip it.

"You need help with that? My gauntlets… they'll be able to blast that thing apart." Aren mumbled, slowly and clumsily heading over to Marsh. It seemed as if the headache was still affecting him "Trust me."

Marsh shook his head, then yelled.

"Aren, Sariel! Keep your eye on Reece!"

"Why?" Aren quickly replied back, evidently confused. "What's wrong-"

"I had a vision… if it comes true, then Reece is in danger. We need to stop that." Marsh explained, not daring to move his eye away from Reece. If Reece were to talk, then it was likely Marsh didn't have much time left to save him.

But that – saving Reece brought forth a dilemma. The question Marsh needed answered regarding this vision was _how_ he could conceivably save Reece from disappearing into light. Nothing about it was anything like he'd ever seen. In his previous visions, he'd seen people be attacked by beasts, all normal things.

This vision, however… it was decidedly more supernatural than anything he'd encountered so far. There didn't even seem to be a reason for Reece's disappearance.

To make matters worse, Reece began to speak… but once again, no words came out of his mouth. This proved odd… especially because Marsh was around two feet away from him.

"Reece! Hang in there!" Aren exclaimed, just as he had in Marsh's vision, and leapt towards the boy as if he were a leopard.

This didn't manage to stop Reece from being shrouded in the white light. And just as he had in Marsh's vision, he disappeared.

Aren was silent for a few moments as he looked down at the ground, then back to Reece's previous position, mumbling something underneath his breath. It wasn't audible to Marsh or Sariel.

"T-that light… so I guess those rumours are real." Sariel nervously spoke. "I didn't want to think they were."

After Sariel finished speaking, Aren began to stomp over to her, his metallic boots clanging and his iron gauntlets in the form of fists, as he stood close to Sariel and told her something.

"What just happened to Reece?" Aren growled with anger. "Why didn't you tell us about this sooner?!"

"H-hold on… before you get angry at me, let me explain." Sariel assured. "I didn't want to say, because it'd only scare you and make me look dumb if it wasn't true…"

"You're lookin' pretty dumb right now for not tellin' us! If I don't see Reece again…-"

Sariel suddenly shouted. "A-alright, here it is! You don't have to believe it… but these tunnels are where the spirits of the dead are said to lurk!"

Placing the Monado onto his back, Marsh placed a palm over his face in disbelief to what Sariel had spoken of.

"'Spirits of the dead'? Sariel, you've been acting real weird. First the firebomb, now this. Just what's gotten into you?"

"You're talkin' about ghosts, right?" Aren groaned. "Huh?"

"That's what I thought!" Sariel responded. "I'm not making crap up just to scare you guys! I had my suspicions, but all I'd heard were rumours!"

Sariel stepped away from Aren, who grumbled once again.

Then it was Marsh who spoke up.

"Alright, then, Sariel. Tell us more about these ghosts."

Nothing else made sense in this scenario. Nothing explained Reece's disappearance _except_ ghosts. It made the most sense, and even still, it was highly unlikely. But on the off chance these rumours were real, then… the trio could very well stave off the spirits.

In the works Marsh had read in the past, ghosts often had weaknesses. Perhaps it was childish to assume it would be the case in this situation, but even just thinking of ghosts as real struck Marsh as childish itself.

Sariel adjusted her hat and began to answer Marsh's question, though she still took frequent glances around the area.

"Give me time to explain, please… I'd like to make this short, but anything less than the whole story will make this seem even more stupid than it is…" Sariel said. "So the rumour goes that these High Entia tunnels are where the dead of the Bionis go, in spirit. Creatures go here, people go here."

Aren raised an eyebrow at the mention of High Entia, but allowed Sariel to continue speaking.

"Some of these spirits are said to be vengeful… so people need to protect themselves from these spirits." Sariel continued explaining. It had become apparent she was using her more formal tone to Marsh and Aren. "Now take a look at that statue, if you will."

Marsh didn't see the significance of the statue, and neither did Aren.

"These statues aren't merely decorations… they protect wanderers from these vengeful spirits. But they can only do this if the torches near them are lit, which allows them to enter the spiritual world and ward off the vengeful spirits. If the torch isn't lit, though… they're powerless, and the spirits roam free in that area."

The group was silent. It seemed as if Sariel had finished explaining.

"What a bunch of shi- crap, am I right…" Sariel switched to her regular, non-formal tone. "See why I didn't tell you before?"

"So ghosts are real?" Aren responded. "Then where'd they take Reece to? I'm not letting anything happen to that kid, and you two are going to help me."

"We are?" Marsh inquired. "So are we waging war on the spirits of the dead now?"

With a sigh, Marsh rested his head on his hand. His adventure had only barely started, and it had already grown unusual, with talk of ghosts being real. Not only that, but it seemed like a valid possibility.

"To be real with you, I don't think it's even possible. Not in the slightest. But you'd better believe that I'm going to give it my all. I'll break the unbreakable to do whatever I've set my mind to. And I want you two to do that, too, whether you're with me or not."

"Aren! That's actually really inspiring to say… and we can't just resign Reece to whatever the hell happened to him. If we're to be heroes, then that's our duty. To protect and save those in need, huh?"

Marsh sat down and leaned against a rock.

"You two want to be heroes? Heh." Aren smiled ever so faintly. "So do I… and you guys are passin' in my book. And if you two really want to help, then I'll gladly take you up. It's for Reece, after all… he's practically my little bro. Larane'd kill me if he got hurt."

As Aren and Sariel continued to speak, ideas rushed through Marsh's mind, as per usual. The others were simply small talking… Marsh, though, was finding ways to get out of their situation.

A series of small rocks were laid upon the ground close to Marsh, instantly bringing an idea to mind. If Sariel was well and truly correct, then lighting the torch near the stone Feris would prevent them from supernatural attacks.

Rubbing rocks together could make fire, thought Marsh. But that wasn't his plan. It was similar, but not his plan.

Marsh was used to making fire. In the winter, it was necessary for him and Lapa to stay warm. His method of creating fire involved an old pocket knife… and some quartzite, along with char.

"I'm going to try and light that torch." Marsh butted into Sariel and Aren's conversation. "I'm experienced with this."

Over thirty minutes had passed as Marsh attempted to make fire on the torch, and failing on each try. He didn't understand what he was doing wrong and grew increasingly frustrated as he stomped down some stray flame that had found its way onto the grass below.

Sariel sat on the stone Feris's back, while Aren stood by Marsh's side, both watching intently.

"Why the hell are you guys still acting like I'm doing good?" Marsh hissed. "I've screwed this up exactly six times. Doing it a seventh time isn't going to change anything… I'm done."

"Don't say that, Marsh… you're not giving yourself any credit." Sariel encouraged. "You're doing a better job than us two. Sometimes you just have bad luck, you know."

Then, Aren smashed his steel knuckles together with a loud clang, echoing throughout the caverns as he looked upon Marsh with a grin.

"I'd bet you feel like it's impossible. But I'm going to tell you one thing, and just one thing. Nothing is impossible if you set your mind to it… and if you're givin' up, then you're lettin' the other thing win. So show it who's boss, Marsh. Nothing's impossible, you hear me?"

Marsh looked away from his two comrades. Not out of rudeness, but as to not show that he was smiling. Marsh didn't want to admit it, but Aren's words gave him the drive to try again.

"… That's two things, you know." Marsh notified. "Also… that's ridiculously cliché."

But with that, Marsh began to try to make another fire on the torch once again.

"We failed this time, but… we've got a seventh chance, haven't we?"

"Exactly, Marsh. So go ahead. We believe in you." Aren spoke calmly.

"It's up to you, Marsh…! We know you can do it!" Sariel followed up Aren's advice, and Marsh tried once again.

 _'Come on… this is super cliché. Ridiculously so…'_

Minutes passed… and finally, Marsh had succeeded.

"Yes!" Marsh cheered, then covered his mouth as if he'd said the wrong thing. "Uh, hooray, I did it…?"

Sariel jumped up from the stone Feris with a cheer. "I knew you could do it! And I bet even the ghosts are impressed with how you didn't give up! They would just be laughing at you if you gave up. But you showed them, and now we can get some ghost-free rest."

Marsh smiled, though he didn't hide it this time.

 _'… Don't the torches ward off the ghosts? I don't think the ghosts would be impressed, but… you do you, Sariel.'_ Marsh thought.

"My headache… it just disappeared." Aren calmly spoke. "Did the ghosts cause it? Well… that would imply we're safe, at any rate. We'd best get some rest... if we're tired when we go lookin' for Reece, we'll be puttin' ourselves in danger."

 _'That's pretty reasonable of you, Aren… if Lapa got kidnapped, I wouldn't be able to rest… not until I found him again.'_

And with that, the now group of three all rested against the stone Feris, in pursuit of getting some sleep. It had truly been an unbelievable day for each of them…

* * *

 _Author's Note:_

 _Admittedly, I'm not too sure on how this chapter ended up... I felt I should make a chapter, but some things happened and now it's in pretty late. I might do some edits on this later on, to make it more readable..._

 _Also, thank you to my readers! I don't have many, but I'm still pretty thankful that you guys are reading this._


	8. Spectral Beings

Marsh, Sariel, and Aren all sat against the stone Feris statue, their apparent relief from the lost spirits which wandered Garal-Javena… all of them wanting to get at least the slightest bit of rest, because truth be told – they were all tired.

Garal-Javena's serene appearance should've put the trio at ease in theory, but it only managed to put them on edge even more. It was like a verdant, beautiful forest within a cavern, home to trees with leaves that seemed to glow with health, and crashing azure blue.

With a yawn, Aren spoke forth, and brought up a question.

"Marsh, Sariel… what're your reasons for comin' into this place? One look at me tells me that you guys have somethin' you want to do."

Sariel shrugged. "I don't really have some grand reason or anything like that… I just want to travel and do meaningful stuff. Otherwise, I'm just stuck hunting down things called 'Unique Monsters'… it gets really boring."

"Makes sense. Not everythin' needs some huge reason to it, after all." Aren added, leaning his metallic arm onto the Feris statue.

With his eyes closed in pursuit of sleep, Marsh didn't say anything. This didn't stop Aren from inquiring as to what his reason was, though.

"Hey, Marsh. What's your reason?" Aren asked, looking over at the Monado and analysing it thoroughly. "Guessin' it relates to this blade here?"

Marsh nodded sleepily.

"My best friend got knocked into a coma by some Mechon… now I've got the Monado, I'm using it to avenge him. What I want to do… is I want to find that ruby Mechon who caused it. Unit: RUBY…"

"Unit: RUBY…? You mean… like Unit: EMERALD?" Aren questioned. "There's more of those Mechon? Not even the Monado could harm Unit: EMERALD back at Sword Valley. And, come to think of it – Unit: EMERALD did say they'd be back in a year."

Placing a metallic gauntlet onto his hair, as if deep on thought, Aren briefly went silent.

"Sorry about your friend, though… nothing good comes from the Mechon." Aren grumbled. "They're well and truly evil."

"Actually, on that topic…" Marsh began. "I noticed your metal arms, Aren. Tell me… you're not a Mechon, are you? I've never seen someone with metallic body parts like you."

Once again, Aren paused to think over what he'd say. After a minute of time passed, he opened his mouth to speak.

"I was wonderin' when you'd ask that. Only natural a Monado wielder would want to know." Aren spoke clearly and calmly. "I don't think I am. These are more… augments than anything. I'm still a Homs, at least I think I am…"

Marsh had an idea of what Aren was, then. "Like… a cyborg." Marsh mumbled to himself.

Aren paused and spoke with a serious tone, a determined look in his eyes. "I dunno, but if I am a Mechon… then I want you guys to kill me. I'd rather die than be one of theirs..."

"Aren, I don't think you're a Mechon," Sariel chimed in. "You've got like, feelings and that stuff, don't you? You care about Reece. Those unthinking machines sure as hell wouldn't."

Aren gave a thumbs up… even though neither of his two companions saw it.

"Yeah, that's great to hear…" Aren spoke. "What about you two, though? I told you the stuff I'm worried about, so now it's time for you two to tell me. We'll pick randomly, with… rock paper scissors."

"Geez, Aren… I thought you were some tough, stoic dude who punches the crap out of monsters. Isn't rock paper scissors a little kiddy?"

Marsh lied against the stone Feris. "It's not that bad…" Marsh quietly mumbled, though his companions didn't hear him. However, he worried. If Marsh told Sariel and Aren his past as a thief, what would they think? Would they shun him? He did think that he had a valid reason for his crimes. If he hadn't stolen, he wouldn't have been able to provide Lapa and himself with the food to survive the state Colony 9 was in.

Aren surprised Marsh, though, with a loud yell.

"Shut up! Rock paper scissors _is not kiddy!_ " Aren exclaimed. "Me and Bearce used to play it back in Sword Valley. You guys sayin' it's kiddy now?"

Sariel laughed. "Uh, well… yeah. It is kinda kiddy. But anyways, you guys wanna know more about my past, right? Well… I suppose there's no reason not to."

Briefly, Marsh recalled that Sariel had some strange, wing-like objects hidden underneath her hat. Perhaps her past was related to that. Along with that, Sariel mentioned a strange word before. 'High Entia'…

"Alright, so I'm just gonna say this." Sariel began to explain. "I live in a High Entian city inside the Bionis. That's the gist of it. Not nearly all of it, but…"

"High Entia?" Marsh curiously inquired, wondering just what it meant. It sounded as if it belonged to living beings, or perhaps it was a species of intelligent beings, like the Homs?

Sariel looked around the area, then looked over at Marsh. "You don't know about them? They've got wings on their head… and they're uppity as all hell. They're all so posh and up themselves… and if you don't fit in, then you're tossed away like trash or something." Sariel spoke. "Guess who one of those people is? Me. Turns out, hanging out with Homs gets you nothing but crap from uppity pricks."

Sariel pulled out a single ether pistol, and placed it onto the ground. "You see these?" Sariel asked. "These are what really got me in trouble. I used Homs technology to channel ether, instead of a staff. So, people got pissed off at me and kind of look down on me now. So, I left home. Not even sis could stop me."

"So the High Entia are real…" Aren muttered. "And they're just like I thought they'd be. Don't think I'd ever want to meet one of them, if they act like that. Bet they'd lock us away or somethin', maybe fight us for bein' Homs."

"That wouldn't surprise me, actually." Sariel added. "They've done that to me once, actually. But I'll leave that for another time."

While he hadn't been chiming in much, Marsh was busy thinking about what he'd do. No doubt that his two companions would want to hear his own past, but… he didn't particularly want to come out as a thief. So, Marsh had a new plan. Marsh was tired… it didn't take much time for Marsh to fall asleep, against the stone Feris…

Marsh found himself back in the stellar, space backdrop he'd entered when he first picked up the Monado. Once more, he could see the cosmic void that was space, and the stars and planets that decorated it.

 _"I see you are growing used to the Monado."_ Just as it happened previously, the same mystical yet unknown voice rung out from seemingly nowhere. They sounded close, but – they were nowhere to be seen.

"Not sure if I asked you this last time… who are you, anyway?" Marsh spoke back. "Actually, how about this. Tell me everything. About the Monados, about this place, about you. Because as it is, none of this makes any sense… at all."

Silence.

 _"These are questions I cannot answer at the time being-"_

"Again with the cliched answer… just knock it off and quit tiptoeing around telling me. Not hard to tell that you know about the Monado, is it?" Marsh growled. "Hurry it up."

 _"No. It is not that I will not tell you – but it is that I cannot tell you."_

Marsh paused with a sigh. "You _can't_ tell me? Well, in that case, I probably won't be getting it out of you then, huh."

 _"I see you understand."_

"Then what am I doing here…?" Marsh wondered aloud, his eyes now focused on the majestic planets and stars that lined the area. It was unlike anything he'd ever seen on Bionis, that much was for sure.

 _"By wielding the legendary Monado… you have already changed the future, several times, in fact."_ The voice begun. _"However, do not blame yourself for your friend's state. You did change the future… if you hadn't acted, your friend was destined to fall."_

The strange voice knew… it knew of Lapa. Marsh couldn't fathom as to how it did… though, it seemed as if it knew of Marsh's actions. "You're talking about Lapa, aren't you…? I kind of see what you mean, but I just wish that I could've saved him from getting hurt at all. He's my only real friend… or, was." Marsh had grown used to saying that he'd only had one friend, but it seemed as if he'd finally made some new friends, by the names of Sariel and Aren.

 _"You must not blame yourself… not every future can be changed. The Monado can change the future – this is true, but even still, there are still events that will almost certainly happen."_ Explained the mystical voice calmly and stoically. _"In fact, your friend's state may not be a bad thing. It has been the catalyst for this journey, after all."_

Marsh wasn't sure if he'd heard the voice right. "You're saying that Lapa's injuries are a good thing…?!" He exclaimed in disbelief. "There's nothing good about what happened!"

 _"… Yes, forgive me. I suppose I spoke out without thinking, Marsh."_ The voice uttered. _"However, I must leave you for now. I will tell you, however… continue travelling the Bionis. If you continue following your heart, then all will become clear."_

And before Marsh had an opportunity to question the strange voice once again, he found himself jolted back into reality, into the ominous Garal-Javena. But the voice's words stayed with him, though they brought forth a question. Why did the voice know of Lapa, and why did it imply that his wounds weren't a bad thing?

Marsh wondered if he was interpreting it wrong. It wasn't just that that incited Marsh's interest, though. What exactly did it mean by all becoming clear? It sounded very cliché, but that was besides the point.

But, most of all, Marsh found himself thinking about the voice's final words. 'If you continue following your heart, then all will become clear.' Marsh didn't know what to think of this, but what he knew was that following his heart involved getting justice for his friend, Lapa. All that remained was the question of how such a thing would make everything clear.

Looking over at his two traveling companions Sariel and Aren, Marsh noticed that they were deep in sleep, all of them lying against the stone statue of a Feris. _'I should probably wait for them to wake up before I do anything, but… I want to check this place out. It's unlike anything I've ever seen.'_

The area truly seemed like something out of fantasy. Garal-Javena… a cavern meets a thriving forest, full of rumbling waterfalls and verdant green grass. That alone was truly amazing, yet unbelievable to Marsh. Along with that, the rumours of ghosts seemed like a hoax, but… Marsh had seen them for himself. _'I didn't think ghosts would be real, but there's no doubt about it. They were the ones who took Reece… we need to get him back... we can't afford to sit around if we're to do that.'_

Marsh gripped the Monado as he rose to his feet, then began to slowly pace away from the stone statue. He was on edge, knowing that the spirits were very likely real. _'If the Monado can tell the future, then… it should be able to tell when these guys attack. But, if they're spirits… then we can't hurt them back. Just like Mechon…'_

As Marsh walked, he felt a chill go down his spine. Sensing danger, Marsh activated the Monado, causing a blade of ether energy to emerge and form the blade of the Monado. Standing perfectly still, he awaited a vision, but it didn't come. The only thing Marsh could feel was a faint breeze, billowing throughout the caverns of Garal-Javena.

Marsh waited for a minute in anticipation of a vision, but it was fruitless. With a shrug of his shoulders, Marsh chose to head further on into the cavern – towards the crashing waterfall he'd seen before. _'Maybe there's something behind this waterfall?'_ Marsh pondered, before quickly dismissing it. _'Geez… why am I being so naïve. That's only a thing in books… but I'll check it out anyways, I guess. I shouldn't stray too far.'_

The Monado-wielding youth then saw something that caught his eye. A small, golden jewel lying on the ground, which seemed to be decorated rather ornately. Something about it was familiar, which became apparent as Marsh approached the strange jewel. It reminded him of Sariel's emblem, which she'd previously used to open the gate to Garal-Javena, or at least, he thought it did.

Placing a hand down onto the jewel, Marsh began to lift it up. But that same feeling of dread from before had washed over him. A shiver ran up his spine, immediately causing him to drop the jewel in surprise… and fear. _'Why'd I do that?! Why'd I just pick up some random thing lying around? I don't doubt it in any way… that was a trap… a trap I fell hook, line, and sinker for.'_

Nervously scanning the area, Marsh didn't notice anything else out of the ordinary. It was just the same old Garal-Javena… but Marsh knew for a fact that the beasts lurking the area were invisible to the eye. They were, apparently, spirits.

Abruptly, an enormous, vicious roar bellowed throughout Garal-Javena… the same roar which had previously echoed throughout the caverns. Brandishing the Monado, Marsh prepared himself for combat. _'I'll try this out… I don't know if it'll help me, but I've got no other option… I think.'_

"Monado… Enchant!" Marsh cried out, raising the Monado into the air and cloaking the area in a bright violet light, covering all of Marsh's body in a distinct purple aura. But that wasn't more. The same purple aura surrounding Marsh had enveloped a previously unseen shape directly in front of Marsh, causing it to glow luminously. "That worked?!"

The beast didn't say anything back, unsurprisingly to Marsh – it instead snarled aggressively, opening its mouth and baring its sharp teeth. It was a two-legged beast… it was a Gogol, a type of creature known for their aggression. This was evidenced by the fact that almost instantly, the Gogol began to run on all fours towards Marsh. Marsh's strategy was to run towards the Gogol, as well.

When he reached the Gogol, Marsh leapt as high as he could, over the slouched Gogol's back, then struck the beast's back with the Monado in mid-air, slashing its back and causing it to roar in a combination of pain – and rage.

Pounding its chest like a drum, the Gogol smashed the ground with all its strength. Its sheer power created a small crater in the ground, exposing the dirt underneath Garal-Javena's grassy ground. Marsh thought that the Gogol was trying to exert its power to frighten Marsh – and it was working. _'If I get hit once, then… I'll probably get snapped in two…! Dammit!'_

In a crazed frenzy, the Gogol lunged at Marsh with a headbutt, striking him in the chest forcefully. This strike left him staggered and winded from the Gogol's sheer power. The Gogol's next move was to grab Marsh's wrist with incredible strength, almost crushing it… then use its other hand to rip the Monado out of Marsh's hands. He tried to resist, but his foe was far too powerful.

Now with the Monado in hand, the Gogol swung at Marsh with the mystical blade with a wide, horizontal swing. The attack hit Marsh, but it simply bounced off of him harmlessly, dealing not even the slightest of damage. Shortly after this, however, the Gogol began to swing wildly with the Monado, at the air, the ground, at anything in sight. Marsh used this time to make distance from the Gogol, but it simply followed him, still swinging at the air… until it dropped the Monado. After that, the Gogol no longer attacked the air and ground, though Marsh didn't know why.

With a fast sprint, the Gogol pursued Marsh as he dashed back to the Feris Statue as quickly as he could. Marsh was only slightly faster than the Gogol. _'I need the Monado…! I don't think my knives are going to even harm this thing!'_

"Took long enough! I've been itchin' for a fight!" A somewhat familiar voice exclaimed, accompanied by the sound of metal smashing together, almost like cymbals. It was none other than the metal-fisted pugilist, Aren, who wore a confident grin on his face. "Kid, go get the Monado and leave this thing to me!"

"Kid…?" Marsh mumbled quietly, though he quickly nodded in response to Aren's orders. He was confident that Aren could deal with the Gogol himself. But he wondered if Sariel was still asleep. A quick glance over to the Feris Statue showed that she was aiming both her ether pistols towards the Gogol, though she put them on the ground when Aren declared he'd defeat the beast alone.

As Marsh darted over to the Monado, Aren lunged at the Gogol, almost like a boxer in the ring. He delivered a quick left hook to his foe's chest, only to follow it up with something neither Marsh or Sariel expected to see. Aren reared his fist back, as if he was charging up a punch – and then flames began to cloak his metallic arm. Marsh noticed that there were thrusters on Aren's metallic hands, which were emitting the flame. These fiery thrusters were propelling Aren's next punch, which collided with the Gogol's chest with great power, knocking it back a few feet.

It didn't take too long for Marsh to reach the Monado, where he picked it up and stood, simply watching Aren's fight with the Gogol. He was impressed – Aren truly was a powerful fighter in Marsh's eyes. It was as if he were a mix of a man and mechon, what with the functions his body provided.

Enraged, the Gogol jumped at Aren, its fists curled. Aren made no attempt to dodge the beast's attack, and instead stood there with a cocky grin. However, the sheer force behind the attack sent Aren onto the ground with a grumble, and knocking him back slightly. "I-I'm fine.

"Alright, we're not just going to let you get the tar beaten out of you!" Sariel exclaimed, twirling her dual ether pistols as she aimed at the Gogol's head, her hands on the triggers. Letting loose a single ether blast, Sariel struck the Gogol in the head with an ether shot. "You too, Marsh!"

 _'Me too, huh. Looks like Aren couldn't cut it…'_ Rushing down towards the Gogol with a determined expression and the Monado in his left hand, Marsh was intent on striking at the Gogol's back. He knew just the strategy – a strategy that would allow them to fight the Gogol as a team.

Marsh called out as he brought the Monado to the Gogol's leg, in order to inform his comrades of his next move. "Guard Breaker!" The slash left the Gogol off balance.

"Good one!" Sariel encouraged. "Now – Gale Force!" A light green blast of ether was sent flying towards the Gogol, which made contact with the beast's head – before long, the ether blew up in a large explosion, flinging the Gogol onto its back.

Their opportunity had come.

"Alright, guys! Let's try this thing out… let's try out a Chain Attack!" Sariel ordered. Marsh noticed she had been taking up a leader role. "I'll start it off! Double Round!" Two blue ether shots were released towards the Gogol, both of which struck the Toppled beast's vulnerable back.

"My turn… Dual Ray!" Marsh yelled, as he swiftly cut at the Gogol with two horizontal slashes – from the left to the right, and back again. The attack left the Gogol thrashing in pain.

That left one more member of their team to make their move, that being Aren. His arm began to glow with green ether as a series of five sharp spines appeared on both of Aren's mechanical knuckles, which seemed to leak ether out of their tips. With a powerful swing, Aren smashed his fist into the Gogol's chest, which pierced into the beast's stomach. Taking his fist away from the Gogol, Marsh and Sariel noticed that the Gogol had gained a strange green glow.

Aren turned away from the Gogol and placed his hands together… and as if on cue, the Gogol exploded in a vivid explosion of ether energy.

And with that… the Gogol began to fade away. "What's going on?! This doesn't normally happen!" Aren questioned. "Is my ether eatin' it?!"

"This was one of the 'ghosts' we were talking about... the Monado can make them visible and able to be harmed, or something like that… I'm no master on this kind of stuff." Marsh guessed.

"In the rumours I heard, spirits could be forced into a physical form, like what Marsh is saying. Now maybe my memory's hazy, because I didn't pay much attention in these lessons," Sariel explained. "When some things die, they're turned into these spirit forms. And… if they somehow die _again_ like a chump, then they're all done. Like this Gogol. So, the moral of the story is that we were fighting a dead monkey, basically."

Sariel chuckled at her words, and so did Aren… though Marsh kept a straight face, not finding it particularly laugh-worthy.

"More importantly, though…" Sariel added. "If we can hurt these ghosts, then we're really bloody lucky. It'll help us in saving that kid."

Aren frowned. "Reece is a tough kid, but… I ain't letting some ghosts just take him like they did. He's got a lot to live for. Right now, it's my duty to save that kid. I'm not gonna lose, either!" Walking over to Marsh, Aren placed his warm, metallic hand onto Marsh's shoulder, to the young Monado wielder's surprise. "We'll need your help, kid! If it weren't for you, then we wouldn't have a chance."

 _'If it weren't for the Monado, you mean...'_ Marsh thought, before noticing something in the corner of his eye. It was the golden jewel from before, still lying on the ground. Marsh thought it'd be best if he take it with him – if it was trapped, he'd already sprung it, anyways.

Marsh slowly walked over to the jewel, lifted it up… which was precisely when Sariel chimed in. "Wait…! That was just lying around?" Sariel uttered in disbelief, as she got a good look at the jewel. "This is a great find, but why was it just lying about here? It could mean bad things…"

The jewel was well and truly like the emblem Sariel had, Marsh found, then inquired about the jewel. "So… what's good about this jewel, anyway? Because it looks a lot like that emblem you had earlier. The one you opened the door here with."

"My people have special High Entia Emblems, which can open doors across Bionis. However… citizens like me can only open certain doors. The upper-class High Entia have golden emblems that open almost every door, though. That's why that emblem is important. But… it's also makes me kinda worry." Sariel admitted, putting her dual ether pistols away. "Nobody in their right mind is gonna lose one of those emblems… unless by force. Most High Entia like that are pretty powerful, too – they wouldn't just lose to some random creature like the one we fought."

"You sayin' that Gogol wasn't very tough?" Aren mumbled. "Well, it wasn't a problem for me. Wasn't easy, wasn't hard. Was right in-between. It's all because we combined our powers as a team. Was a heck of a fight, though!"

"More importantly, though… we now know that we can fight these 'ghosts', thanks to the Monado." Marsh uttered. "I can't guarantee it, but… maybe it will help us find Reece?"

"I'm sure it will." Aren replied. "I know we'll find him. And he'll be alright. That kid's tougher than he looks."

Marsh wondered how Aren was so calm and confident about the situation. Reece and Aren were apparently like brothers. Marsh wondered if deep down, Aren was afraid for Reece… just like Marsh would be for Lapa.

Looking down the vast, forested tunnels of Garal-Javena, Marsh held the Monado at the ready, filled with a new determination… a determination to find Reece, with the help of Aren and Sariel. _'With this blade… I can change the future. I couldn't change Lapa's future, but… this time I will. I'll save Reece. I'm sure of it.'_

The group of three began their trek through Garal-Javena once more.


	9. Decision

The trio of travellers ventured through the lush green, forested caverns that were known as Garal-Javena, in search of the missing boy, Reece. While there was no indication of his whereabouts, the group still desired to seek him out and rescue him… even if they didn't have the slightest clue of what had happened to him.

Far and away, Aren was the one who wanted to find Reece most of all. The boy was a little brother to him, someone he'd had a duty to protect… but that evidently didn't go so well for the metal-armed pugilist.

'There wasn't anything I could'a done there… don't think there was, anyways… but that doesn't matter at all.' Aren thought to himself, as he walked by the side of Marsh and Sariel and occasionally glanced over at the unusual terrain of Garal-Javena. 'But I know I can save him, and as long as there's the tiniest bit of hope? I'm not goin' to give up. That's my duty…'

As if out of nowhere, Aren felt a light breeze of wind on his body – and on instinct, he stomped his foot down onto the ground with a thud and readied a mechanical fist… but nothing was there.

"What are you doing, Aren?" Surprise was apparent in Marsh's voice as he looked over to Aren with a confused look as he placed a hand onto the Monado. "Did you –"

Aren gritted his teeth and interrupted the Monado wielder's words. "Yeah, don't worry… I'm just jumpin' at shadows, I suppose you can say." Aren's eyes rested upon the Monado, which was strapped to Marsh's back.

It was well and truly a powerful weapon, or even one of the most powerful things on the world of Bionis. Without the Monado's power, Bionis would not have survived as long as they had. Aren knew this first-hand… if it weren't for the Monado, the Battle of Sword Valley would have no doubt be an even more crushing loss for the people of Bionis.

Aren never thought he'd fight alongside the Monado again, though it looked a little different. A year back, he aided the legendary warrior Bearce, wielder of the Monado, and Dickson, an enigmatic traveller from who knows where… and today, he fought alongside the Monado once again.

He couldn't help but wonder what happened to his companions, though… what happened to Bearce? After the Battle of Sword Valley, he disappeared – he threw away the Monado, not wishing to see it again. And what happened to Dickson, he wondered… where on Bionis could he be?

"I would've thought you'd say something by now, Aren. You've been pretty chatty." Sariel piped up. "This is a pretty place, sure, but it gets a wee bit boring without chatter. Marsh doesn't talk much, so it's up to you to pick up the slack!"

Marsh quickly responded. "… I would talk, but I'm mainly waiting for you guys to start."

"Aren, you've travelled the Bionis a bit, haven't you? How about you tell us about some places? I know you've been to Sword Valley, but where else? Valak Mountain? What about the Bionis' Left Shoulder? Back home, there's rumours that a race of Giants originate from both shoulders of the Bionis. Have you met a Giant?!"

Aren grinned. "Yeah, I've heard about Giants… my old friend Dickson knows a lot about myths, legends, and Gods, stuff like that. He told me they're extinct, though. Can't say I've ever met a Giant, though." Aren began to explain, then he smashed his fists together. "Wonder how I'd fare against a Giant, though. I bet I'd clobber any Giants real good, though. You know what they say, right? The bigger they are… the harder they fall."

"I… I think you're overestimating yourself a bit, Aren." Marsh stated. "But what was that? About that Dickson guy. I swear… I swear something about that name is familiar."

"Yeah, probably. The guy's a traveller, and a guy who just generally sticks out. Red bandanna, blonde hair, he's not really like anyone else you'd see around." Aren informed as the trio continued venturing through Garal-Javena. "Haven't seen the guy in a long time… really makes me wonder where the guy is."

Sariel gasped. "Wait… a blonde guy, with a red bandanna? I've seen someone like that, back home. I never knew how he got in the good books with my people, but he sometimes comes around to meet up with a few people at home, like sis."

"You've got a sister, eh?" Aren added. "But, yeah… could definitely see Dickson going to places like this or your home. He's practically been everywhere. Not sure what Dickson's doin' with your sister, though. Who knows?" Aren grinned with a shrug.

Marsh looked away without a word, which Aren noticed from the corner of his eye.

"It'd be work related, though, I'm wagering. Not sure what kinda work, though. Hopin' it's some sort of weapon against the Mechon, though. We could use stuff like that." Aren told with a light grin. "The guy told me he'd be working on anti-mechon weaponry eventually, but I haven't heard anything since."

Marsh nodded. "Yeah… it's probably work related. Probably."

"Well, if my memory is correct, we should be near Javena. That's where I used to live. Sis still lives there, though. Maybe she'll be able to help us find Reece? She's pretty smart."

And once again, silence befell the group as the conversation met its end, at least for the time being. As the group continued their travels, though, they came across an expansive area of Garal-Javena. Said area was well and truly like a lush forest, with many trees standing tall through the area. Spiked vines lined this section of Garal-Javena.

Along with that, a few statues marked the entrance to a wooded area of Garal-Javena. These statues resembled Volffs, and were in perfect state. In fact, they even had jewels for eyes.

"Are those jewels important?" Marsh questioned, his eyes on the shimmering blue crystals. "I mean, like the emblem I found a while back."

Sariel scratched her head. "I don't reckon so, but there's no real reason to bring them along with us. They're just kinda there."

"Yeah… maybe it's best we take these with us."

Marsh stuck his hand into the eyes of the Volff statues, and with deft and nimble fingers, he tore the sapphires out of the first Volff statue's eyes with surprising ease. He then headed over to the other Volff statue and did the same, this time netting him two rubies.

"You seriously… you seriously took them with you?" Sariel sighed. "I suppose it's alright. I don't reckon those real scary ghosts are gonna care that much… and if they do, we can just do that Monado stuff you did before. No biggie!" She added with a shrug.

Aren, however, wasn't so convinced. "Maybe I'm wrong, but these statues deal with the ghosts. You think this'll stop them from doing their job?"

With a shrug, Marsh shook his head in denial. "The other statue worked, and I would've noticed if it had any jewels. This should be fine. If it isn't, then… we've got this thing," Marsh pointed to the Monado. "I can't say I've got any clue on how it hurts these ghosts, but I guess it does. Good enough for me."

"Sounds like you're sure of yourself, Marsh. The three of us'll send these ghosts back to the grave, you have my guarantee… Monado or no Monado." Aren responded. "Anyways, let's get going. No use standing around, after all."

With that, the three adventurers headed into the forested area of Garal-Javena, which was positively teaming with trees. Notably enough, the leaves on the trees seemed to glow, as if they weren't truly leaves…

Aren thought that it looked like they were made of green ether. He'd heard rumours of a place called Satorl Marsh with trees with glowing ether, but it seemed like this Garal-Javena place was a similar case.

Fortunately, a path led through the area. This was useful, for the wooded area was filled with trees, so much so that it left little room to move about. Each step the party made created an audible thudding noise, against the dirt under their feet.

After five minutes of walking, the party still was within the forest, carefully following the path… but something caught their eyes. It was a building that could only be described as ancient, with crumbled, yet patterned stone and statues of what seemed to be gargoyles standing guard in front of the ruin. An enormous door led into the fortress, which was halfway open… revealing the inside of the ruin, which was lit by torches.

"… Maybe this is worth a look." Marsh suggested. "Hey, where else can we check?

"If we're going to look for Reece, we've got to check everywhere we can. Let's give it a look." Aren replied, with a confident grin.

Then, the trio headed towards the enigmatic ancient building, their minds racing as to what waited within.

* * *

"We're here! … So we're just gonna check inside and all? Can't say I'm sure that Reece is in here, but I guess we'll check it out. Not sure what this place is, though… never heard about it, that's for sure." Sariel then added another comment. "Yeah… I'm really not sure what the hell this place is."

"I'll lead the charge, then. I'll go over our battle plan, too, so listen up!" Aren announced. "I'll lead, get in their face, and beat them to a pulp. And when I'm doing that, Marsh – you know what to do, eh?"

Marsh nodded slowly, as if somewhat unsure.

"I guess… when you're doing that, I'll use the Monado when they're focused on you. I'm not really the type who'd take hits… but the Monado's pretty strong. I'll be an attacker, I suppose."

Sariel stepped back from the door and looked over to Marsh, an idea brewing in her mind. "Wait a minute… Marsh, if you got the attention from an enemy, then you could just keep dodging about! You don't need to take hits, just make them try to hit you." Sariel suddenly chirped with her idea.

Marsh shrugged. "I dunno. I mean, I suppose it'd work, but even then… I don't know if it's the best idea. I don't think I'm that good of a dodger."

"Anyways, we should probably discuss what I'm gonna do, right? I can wreck a hole in enemies from range, so I'm pretty well off." Sariel added. "I'm in my element if I've got the range advantage…! Just keep the enemies away from me and I'm fine."

Aren nodded, and noticed that Marsh's eyes had suddenly – and briefly turned a similar shade of blue to the Monado's ether blade.

'Kid looks fine, but I don't have a clue on what's going on with him… hope he's alright. Being the wielder of the Monado… it ain't an easy job, that's for sure.'

Aren kept an eye on Marsh, but the strange light dissipated in the span of little over a second, and Marsh acted like nothing had happened, though he did notice Aren's gaze, though he didn't say anything a word. Instead, Aren calmly approached the enormous stone gate to the ancient ruin, and lead the party into the area.

Aren, Marsh, and Sariel found themselves in a large, open room, with a large throne awaiting on the far end of the room. Aside from that, the room was practically featureless, aside from the random scraps of cloth adorning the floor. It was simply a large, flat room of aged stone, lit by the several torches

"I thought there'd be more…" Sariel mumbled. "Ancient stuff is cool… not when it's like this. There's practically nothing here. This place is pretty crappy, I'm not gonna lie. Big place, little to see."

Right after Sariel spoke, Marsh suddenly and abruptly piped up. "Speaking of this being a big place… didn't you guys notice something? This place is real huge." Marsh pointed upwards, to the ceiling. "I'd say… it's approximately seventeen feet tall. Isn't that odd, for a place like this?"

"I feel like I know where you're going with this, kid." Aren stepped over to Marsh at a moderate pace, the sound of his footsteps reverberating through the enormous ruin. "Giants, right? You're saying that this ruin was created by them?"

With a nod, Marsh agreed, though suddenly – he gasped, out of the blue, and drew his Monado, as if he was readying himself for a fight. This sudden movement caused Sariel to grab hold of her ether pistols, too… though she quickly looked around and didn't see any enemies.

"What's up with you, Marsh? Just suddenly freaking out like that… it bloody scared me, for real. Don't just do that out of the blue!"

Aren quickly glanced around the room, but he too noticed nothing. However, Marsh showed no signs of giving up his battle-ready stance… it was as if he were waiting for something.

It was then, however, that an expression of shock washed over his face – and he drew the Monado close to him briefly. Shortly thereafter, he began to slowly back away, not turning his back as he faced against the wall.

"Marsh! What's going on!?" Aren yelled out. "You alright?! This isn't like you… get a grip, snap out of it!"

Marsh seemed to shake as he spoke. "This… this isn't… this isn't a safe place. Something's… really wrong here!"

"Good job… that's completely correct. Something is indeed wrong here! I'll address the elephant in the room – the three of you, all of you, have no business being in here!"

"Huh…?" Aren wondered aloud, as he turned back to the gate they'd entered from. And standing there was none other than a man, clad in an almost blood red uniform with white highlights – along with a striking scarlet red hat, which was wide brimmed. He was pointing what seemed to be a curved blade at the party, though the blade's edge looked distinctively unusual… for it was a mixture between a sword and a gun.

The man in red lifted his hat up, revealing his eyes, and then smirked. "Yeah. As I said, you lot aren't supposed to be here. This isn't some attraction for measly tourists! It'd be pain for the Big Boss if we just let people wander around here willy-nilly… not just for me, but for Lady L! So I'm gonna have to escort all you hosers outta here."

Sariel spat on the ground, and drew her ether pistols once more, having holstered them shortly beforehand. "Who do you think you are, buddy? Trying to boss us around like that… there's three of us, and one of you!"

Marsh slowly turned around, still shaking – and looked surprised when he noticed the man in red. "You're… you're that man I saw back then… in Colony 9…"

"My name isn't 'that man', but it sounds pretty neat. Name's Dodge. I know all you lot, except that shaking guy holding a Monado… he's just Monado Boy to me right now." Dodge withdrew his combination of sword and katana onto his back, then tipped his hat downwards, obscuring his eyes. "But anyways, Sariel, you sounded like you wanted to fight me. I mean, you can… but your pal, Aren wouldn't be all too pleased with that."

Aren glanced at Dodge in confusion. "And why would that be…? I wouldn't care."

Dodge sighed, then pointed towards Aren and Sariel. "Your pal, Reep or whoever is in the Lady's care right now. We found that poor kid strewn about in a little place we call the Soul Den, drained of energy from the ether… I dunno, ghosts here. We saved that fella real good! He told me you lot would be looking for him."

Aren gritted his teeth, while Dodge continued speaking.

"I'm willing to help you two have a touching reunion, but… you're going to have to do as we say, y'know. Your two options are to leave this pretty important place and meet that kid again, or… draw your weapons and get torn into mincemeat by me!" Dodge uttered. "Either way's fine, but it'd probably be better if you picked the first… for you."

"What's your problem…?" Aren muttered to Dodge, as he began to exit from the ruins, while nodding to Sariel without a word, who began to follow along. "Take us to Reece."

"Clever boys," Dodge pointed to Aren first as he said this, and then Sariel afterwards. "What about your pal here, with the Monado? He's walking like he's drunk. No clue what that's about. Did he take a pint or something while you were travelling around here?"

Sariel sighed. "Are you trying to be funny…? We don't know what's going on with him. We need to check on him!"

"No… I should be fine." Marsh spoke back, hastily. "Let's not waste time…"

"Huh. You sure you're fine?" Aren asked. "You look like you need a rest. We'll get you one as quick as we can, buddy. Just hang in there."

Dodge chuckled. "Well, anyway. I don't really like this place, so I'm going to take the quick way out." Dodge began to walk towards the mass of trees that the group had previously come across… and headed towards the two Volff statues that Marsh had stolen the jewels of previously.

Dodge reached into a pocket on his jacket, and pulled out a golden emblem, just like the one Sariel had previously found. He placed it into the right eye of the Volff statue on the left, and then…

The ground itself shook beneath the group, surprising all of them – with the exception of Dodge. This revealed a hidden path, running below Garal-Javena. It seemed to be made of regular old stone, as opposed to the verdant forested caverns of Garal-Javena.

Dodge placed a hand onto his mouth, mimicking a shushing gesture. "Don't blab about this to the lady… she'll flip a lid if she hears that you guys know about this. I'd take the regular way out of this place, but this place is a pain to navigate, you know. Goes on forever, full of those ghosts or whatever she calls them… I wouldn't mind never seeing this place again." Dodge spoke. "Hold on… why're the Volff statues missing their eyes? That isn't normal… sounds like a thief's come around or something. No matter, though. Let's get a move on!"

And with that, the group entered the dark tunnels below. It was a stark contrast to the bright Garal-Javena. While Garal-Javena seemed to be naturally bright, the tunnel system beneath was dim, only mildly illuminated by the flames of small torches on the cavern walls. And, while Garal-Javena was full of sights, the tunnel… it was only a regular old tunnel, with nothing of note, aside from supports holding it up.

The walk was uneventful, but eventually, the group found their way to a small metallic door, patterned with a golden symbol. Dodge placed his golden emblem onto this…

And with that, the metallic door slid open, with hardly a sound. Behind the door was a dark room with white stone flooring. However, most noticeably of all… someone was standing there. A woman in metallic white armour, with some pink thrown in – along with wings on her head. This woman was a High Entia, to which Sariel gasped – but didn't say anything. Instead, she waited for the High Entia woman to speak.

"Well, you've finally arrived, Dodge… and with quite the motley crew, too. In particular…"

The High Entia woman casually stepped over to Sariel, then kneeled down slightly – and looked at her, as if inspecting her. "Well, look who's grown up. It's been years."

Sariel rolled her eyes. "Yeah… you're not wrong… my sister. I wanted to pay you a visit or two, but the whole situation with me causes a bit of a problem and all…"

"This lady's your sister?" Aren uttered. "Huh… small world, eh? I wouldn't have guessed if you didn't tell us, that much is for sure."

"Ah, pardon me. My name is Lorithia. I am the leader of the High Entia's Ministry of Research. I know you, Aren – you fought in the battle of Sword Valley, after all," Lorithia said. "And of course, I'd know my own sister. Now, may I ask the identity of this Monado Wielder here?"

Marsh looked up at Lorithia. "Me? I'm Marsh Artein… from Colony 9."

"What a cute name… Marsh." Lorithia replied.

"Uh… thanks?"

"Now, I see a Monado's found its way into your hands." Lorithia looked over to the Monado. "I trust you know the strength of the Monado? The very blade that fought against the Mechonis?"

Marsh nodded. "Yeah… I tried to use it against a Mechon attack. But… I'm not sure I really did much. Couldn't even save my friend… and there were some Mechon it couldn't even dent."

"A shame." Lorithia added. "However… that can be discussed later. There's a more pressing topic at hand. It may require a little bit of thinking and mulling over – I fully expect that."

Dodge smirked. "Yeah! Thinking's a pretty tough thing to do."

"Seriously… you aren't that funny." Sariel groaned. "You're just really annoying."

Aren, however, had his own questions to ask the High Entia woman. "Lorithia, is it? Where's Reece?"

Turning away from Marsh to face Aren, Lorithia chuckled. "Worried, are we? Your friend is currently resting up. We can permit you to visit him, on one condition."

"And that condition…?" Aren replied.

Lorithia turned to face Marsh once more. "That condition is that Marsh works for us, utilizing the Monado." Lorithia explained. "It's no secret that the blade can harm Mechon. It's the only thing that can, in fact… making a Monado Wielder quite a valuable ally."

"Me…? Work for you guys?" Marsh questioned. "I don't understand. Do you want me to fight your battles for you?"

"Bionis is under attack from the forces of evil – the Mechon by the day. Have you not seen the destruction they've caused? I believe your home fell victim to the Mechon, along with that 'friend' you mentioned earlier." Lorithia spoke. "How did that make you feel?"

"… It made me feel awful."

"Then, think about all the cities and towns of Bionis. They wait, day by day, for a fate that may as well be inevitable. The Mechon will attack them, their cities, their loved ones, and destroy them. But the Monado is their salvation. That blade can change the future. What may be doomed – you could very well save." Lorithia continued. "You are the only one who can change that future, Marsh… with that blade, you could defeat Mechonis, once and for all. So, with that power – will you just stand by as innocent lives perish?"

"I…"

"Our request, Marsh, is that you work with us - and end Mechonis, once and for all."

"I'll… I'll think about it." Marsh spoke.

Dodge suddenly piped up. "You'll think about it, eh? Remember… if you don't agree, your pal Aren's gonna be mighty annoyed with you. He won't be seeing his friend again… and you'll be putting tons of lives at risk. Mull over that for a bit, hey?"

"So, hold on. What you're doing is…" spoke up. "You're not going to release Reece unless we agree to your plans? That's… immoral."

Dodge pointed to Aren, his hat obscuring his eyes. The katana on his back glinted. "Nah, not really. We're planning on giving him back! All you've gotta do is pick the right decision. You listened to Lady L, right? Boyo, you're one of the only people on Bionis who can stand up for everyone else, you got that? So you gonna stand up, or are you gonna sit down, like some measly little milk drinker? Doing that would make you just as evil as the Mechon, me thinks…"

"I'll think about it. Just give me some time." Marsh replied. "You've said enough."

* * *

 _Took me a while to make this one. Lost interest for a bit, but it should be getting regular updates from here on. Was kind of preoccupied with the second game - it was pretty neat.  
_

 _I've been wanting to make this chapter for a while, mainly because from here on, there should be a few more familiar faces. There's not been that many so far, which'd probably explain the low amount of views this thing gets._

 _But yeah, plot should be getting into place soon enough. Not only that, but the next chapter should be up soon, too.  
_


	10. Ray of Hope

_'That ruin… I can't take my mind off of it.'_

 _'Something was… wrong. But what was it? It felt like the Monado itself was urging me to get away… as if my very own body was trying to escape.'_

 _'I'm curious, but… I feel as if it'd be best not to head back. Maybe I was the only one who felt it, but… there was something there…'_

 _'Or… perhaps it'd be better if I forget about it. This… this isn't something that needs answers.'_

 _'Perhaps… perhaps it would be best not to know. I feel… as if it is something best left unknown.'_

 _"Yes… that's precisely it. I should not seek further answers…"_

* * *

"You're awake, kid?"

Marsh's eyes slowly opened to a pattern marble white roof above him – along with dim blue lights that illuminated the room ever so slightly. Marsh noticed a familiar face sitting down, on another bed in the room – it was none other than Aren, who seemed to be cautiously wiping his eyes with his metallic arm.

"Isn't it hard to do that?" Marsh asked Aren with a tone that was a mixture between curiosity and amusement. "Wipe your eyes, I mean."

Aren sighed. "Yeah. Sure doesn't feel safe, but a man's gotta do what he's gotta do."

"That's true, I guess." Marsh added. "So… about that decision, though…"

Aren moved his hand away from his eyes slowly, then placed it onto his bed. "They've forced your hand, haven't they? Unless you work for them, we aren't going to see Reece again. I'm not sure what they're scheming, but… they really want your help."

"I wouldn't have said this before…" Marsh uttered, looking down at the ground, Monado by his side. "Normally, I'd suspect people like this to be scheming something, but these guys… they're completely right."

Aren placed a palm onto his chin, with a quick laugh. "I've known you for hardly more than a day, but… I'll take your word for it, kid." He stated. "But something about those two rubs me the wrong way, you know…? I don't know how to put it, but they're basically using Reece as a captive. I don't like that one bit, so… I'm trusting on you to make the right choice."

"Yeah." Marsh replied. "It _is_ awful that they'd do that, but Lorithia made me realize… the Bionis needs the Monado. Just like they said… it could bring salvation. And if I've got a blade like that… then I can change the future, instead of just sitting around, powerless."

Aren grinned. "Hey, kid, you might be getting a little ahead of yourself there! That's pretty grandiose and all! But what's this about redeeming yourself…?"

"Not just anyone can hold the Monado… but I can. That means it's my duty to fight for the Bionis. To fight against Mechonis. What I want to be is a shining ray of hope for the people of Bionis. Didn't think I'd ever say that, though..."

"Are we sure you're the same Marsh? It's been only a day and you've already changed, it feels like. And by that… you've taken a turn to the dramatic!" Aren laughed. "But, jokes aside… it's good to hear you care about Bionis and its people. That's the type of person who should have a Monado… people who care about Bionis, like you and my old mate Bearce."

"… Anyway, I'll tell you what my plan is. I'm going to help those guys out. I have to – it's my duty as a Monado Wielder, isn't it?" Marsh questioned. "What would I be if I just sat back and did nothing?"

Marsh slowly placed a foot down onto the ground, then headed for the door to the room and gently opened it – causing light to filter into the room. However, more notably…

"Whoa!" Sariel gasped, jumping back as the door suddenly opened. This, in turn, gave Marsh a bit of a spook.

"… Huh?! Marsh whimpered, then turned away. "What were you even doing at the door…? Staring at the wall?"

"Nah… staring at doors isn't for me. Maybe for you guys, though." Sariel joked with a grin. "Sis told me to come get you two, but I heard you guys talking, so I thought I'd wait for a bit… what's this about you being a 'shining ray of hope', Marsh?! I mean, you've got the Monado and all, but… don't hype yourself up too much, bro!"

"… 'Bro'…? Well, anyway, does it really sound that ridiculous?!" Marsh exclaimed. "Aren said that, now you've said it. Is it really that dramatic?"

"Kinda." Aren spoke back. "I mean, I can see why you'd say that. Just don't go saying that in front of ladies… or anyone except us, really."

"That."

Marsh sighed.

"Well… I'll take that in mind…" Marsh uttered. "But I mean it. That's what I want to be, and it's what I have to be. After all, I'm a Monado Wielder, aren't I? So that means I've got to step it up."

Sariel nodded. "Yeah. Don't be like that other guy with a Monado."

"I'd almost forgotten about that tool." Marsh spoke. "That guy… he told me to meet him at Prison Island, but I don't even know where that is. Wonder what his deal is."

Out of the blue, Sariel piped up with an idea.

"Guys! My sister is pretty smart, so maybe we can ask her about some of this stuff? I'm sure she'd know about that guy – she's always been pretty interested in the Monado. Maybe she'd know about this 'Prison Island', or… maybe something about those Mechon?"

While Sariel didn't explicitly say it, Marsh knew immediately what she was talking about. Sariel spoke not of the standard, mindless Mechon… she spoke of the G.E.M Unit Mechon, such as the spiderlike Unit: RUBY – and the one Aren had apparently encountered at Sword Valley, Unit: EMERALD.

Marsh considered it vital to ask Lorithia and Dodge about these Mechon. If they sought to fight against the Mechon using the Monado, then they would surely know about the G.E.M Unit Mechon. But, just what was the source of their invulnerability?

"Not a bad idea, Sariel… I'll tell your sister my answer, then we'll all ask her whatever we want to know." Marsh headed out of the room he and Aren had slept in, and found himself in a hall. "There's a lot of things that need answers."

* * *

"So, Lady L, that's exactly what went down! That's where I found them… the Chamber of the Seal. You've gotta understand why I told them about the secret passage… we can't have them milling about there, can we? So it was pretty urgent to get them outta there, ASAP." Dodge hurriedly explained, motioning with his hands all the while to Lorithia.

"That was the right course of action, Dodge. That's almost impressive, coming from you."

Dodge rolled his eyes. "This is the respect I get? You're acting like just getting something right's an accomplishment for me. News flash! Just because I'm new to this stuff doesn't mean I'm automatically bad at it, you hear?" Dodge's tone was one of mild irritation. "I mean… the Big Boss selected me, along with you guys, didn't he-"

Dodge's speech was quickly interrupted by the sound of a door opening, and light filtering into the room as three figures became visible… those of Marsh, Sariel, and Aren.

"Well, I'm back, sis!" Sariel notified, then quickly motioned to Marsh. "And I think he's decided… right, Marsh?"

With a calm voice, Lorithia ordered. "Oh? Then, out with it."

Marsh paused for a second, as he cleared his throat.

"Your words convinced me, Lorithia… I'll accept your offer."

Dodge chortled. "Can't say I'm surprised. You'd have to be downright evil to pick the other option, eh? Some real messed up piece of work. Glad to see you're not that, Monado Boy.

"You've chosen wisely, wielder of the Monado." Lorithia calmly addressed. "Working with us will prove beneficial… of course, as long as you are capable of following orders."

Arenn took a single step to Lorithia, which echoed through the room. "So we agreed to your plan. So you're going to release Reece, aren't you?"

"I suppose that was a part of the conditions, wasn't it? You will see him shortly, in that case." Lorithia notified. "After all, that was a part of our deal."

With a nod, Aren turned away, as if heading for the door… but in no time at all, he looked back over to Lorithia and Dodge, then tapped Marsh on the shoulder without a word.

"Lorithia… we've got a few questions to ask, though. You're part of the Ministry of Research, right?" Marsh inquired. "There's a few things we're wondering about."

Lorithia placed a hand to her chin. "Oh, you flatter me, Marsh. I'm quite knowledgeable, so I'll try to provide whatever answers I can. We're allies, after all." Lorithia looked over to Sariel. "My dearest sister asked me about another Monado Wielder this morning, actually. But this information is applicable to you, Marsh, so I'd thought I'd wait until you'd allied with us."

"You're so cocky, sis. You're acting like there was no doubt he'd join you." Sariel added.

"That wouldn't have been my first question, but… fire away. Tell me what you know about 'Inbris'… and the Prison Island he mentioned."

Lorithia raised an eyebrow. "That boy mentioned Prison Island? This is news to me…" She noted. "However… the boy, Inbris is an oddity. Tell me, Marsh. Are you familiar with the lore behind the Monado?"

Marsh shook his head.

"The Monado was the weapon of the Bionis, used to fight against the Mechonis. However, since the two Titans have entered their slumber… that same Monado has been wielded by countless people. Your friend, Aren, was a comrade in arms of Bearce – the latest Monado Wielder."

Aren nodded. "Yeah, that's spot on... but he abandoned it after Sword Valley. And from the look of it, Marsh's the one who found it."

"But how does this relate to Inbris?" Marsh asked in confusion.

"It doesn't mean much to you, but the very existence of you and Inbris seem to be unusual."

"… Excuse me? What do you mean, 'unusual'?"

"There is only one Monado." Lorithia explained.

However, this attracted the attention of Dodge, who had been leaning against a wall, cleaning his weapon of dirt and grime. "Hold on, Lori – Lady L… isn't – nah, don't worry about it."

"So, naturally… the existence of a second Monado is rather… curious. As for that boy, we know only his name and appearance. Now… it makes me question how he knows of Prison Island. It's rare to find someone who's even heard of it around here."

"Hey, let me explain this one, Lady L!" Dodge exclaimed. "Prison Island's at the top of Bionis… it's got more than a little significance with the Monado. If that kid told you to go there, I would head on up there, you know. Rumour has it that something incredible resides there!"

"… Precisely." Lorithia continued. "Other than that, we have little else to discuss about this topic."

The concept of a mysterious place like that excited Marsh… but he questioned if it were wise to head there, due to Inbris. Not even Lorithia or Dodge knew much about Inbris, or how he knew of it. Not only that, but Inbris evidently was aggressive. Whatever he had planned… it sounded dangerous to Marsh.

"What about the invincible Mechon, then, sis?" Sariel asked. "The Monado couldn't even cut them! It was an absolute load of crap… I don't get how they're don't take damage! Hell… they can even talk…!"

Lorithia grimaced. "Still got quite the foul mouth, Sariel…" Lorithia sighed. "However, you're talking about the G.E.M Units… unfortunately, not even the Ministry of Research has much information on such Mechon."

"… Seriously? Then what can we do against them?" Marsh groaned. "Just run away, hoping not to get killed?"

Dodge made a clicking noise with his tongue, then pointed towards Marsh with one eye closed. "Bingo! A real man doesn't run away, sure, but against those guys, that makes a real dead man. Not even I could fight that emerald one."

This piqued Aren's attention. "You've fought that one? Dang… considering you came back alive, you ain't all talk. That thing… it was a year ago, but I remember it like it was the other day." Aren reminisced, while he visibly frowned. "Not days that I want to remember, though."

"Anyways, I don't suppose you have more questions?" Lorithia said to the trio.

Marsh shook his head, to which Sariel and Aren did the same.

"You bozos should probably take a look around Javena," Dodge suggested. "If you're gonna help us out, maybe you could use some weapons from the guys around here? Heck, even gems, maybe."

"I don't think that's a good idea, really…" Sariel added. "The three of us are a group who stick out. Marsh's got a legendary sword, Aren's… just look at him. And I'm, well… the outcast of Javena. I don't think we'd get a warm reception."

Dodge looked visibly confused. "What did you even do? Kill someone? Get jail time?"

"Nothing that exciting. You're not a High Entia – it's probably not something that you'd get."

"'Nothing I'd get?' All you people are making me out to be some idiot! Does it run in the family or something?!"

Lorithia glared at the man in red, who noticed this – and quickly brought his hat down, hiding his eyes. Lorithia spoke. "Silence, Dodge. This is not your place."

There was an awkward feel in the air as nobody said a word… not until Aren spoke up, his mind still on the location of his pal, Reece. "So… you mind showing me to where Reece's being kept?"

Dodge suddenly perked up. "No problem, no problem… I'll show you where that kiddo is, quick as a flash. That's how your man, Dodge, does things!"

"Can you just say 'no problem' in future? A lot of what you said really could've been cut out." Marsh snarked. "Just saying."

"I'll pretend I didn't hear you and your attitude, Monado Boy." Dodge grumbled. "Well, stick close behind me, alright? We'll be there in a jiff."

Dodge sauntered over to a door briskly, opened it, and quickly headed into a moderately sized hallway, in which Marsh, Sariel, and Aren entered. The hallway wasn't particularly interesting – walls of white stone surrounded the trio, which only served to remind them of how long it'd been since they'd been above ground, to the open air. For the previous few days, they'd been surrounded by walls of rock from all directions – and it was wearing off its welcome.

The group strolled by several different doors situated in the hallway, each labelled with a number. The room Marsh and Aren had stayed in was labelled '4' – out of approximately four labelled rooms. Dodge and the group of three arrived at a door, labelled '2', though oddly enough… the handle of the door was connected to a strange, glimmering white lock.

Dodge pulled off his hat, revealing short brown hair, brushed downwards. His next course of action was to put his hand into the hat – and shortly afterwards, he brandished a key from it.

"You kept some key in your hat? What a world." Aren spoke, enthused. But his tone shifted in seconds, to something more aggressive as he addressed Dodge. "Dodge, right? Don't open that door yet."

Dodge shrugged. "Getting cold feet? Don't tell me you're being a weenie!"

"Alright, let me ask you this. Why do you guys think it's alright to hold a child hostage, just to convince us to work with you?" Aren growled, looking Dodge dead in the eye. "I don't like what you're doing. And I'll be honest with ya, too. You reek of ulterior motives."

"And you, my good sir, reek of jumping at shadows…! Of course we needed to convince Monado Boy to work with us. If he isn't a lost cause, then he'll let this child free." Dodge retorted. "It's not me who is letting your pal go free, here. It's Monado Boy that's doing that."

"You lot were the ones who threw Reece into here… not Marsh!" Aren replied. "You did all that, and you didn't see anything wrong with it?"

Dodge smirked.

"There's nothing wrong with it. If Monado Boy doesn't work with us, then what's gonna happen to Bionis? That's right… it's all gonna come crashing down." Dodge gestured as he spoke, making a distinctively downwards motion as he spoke 'crashing down'. "Or… now maybe I'm reaching here, but maybe that's what you want? I mean, look at you… look at those metallic arms!"

"You… you son of a-!" Aren exclaimed, as he readied his fist and lunged at Dodge – causing Aren's metallic fist to collide with the door that locked Reece away. But the man in red, true to his name, evaded the strike with ease – and in that moment, Dodge drew his sword, which he slung over his shoulder.

Sariel placed a hand onto her ether pistols, but hesitated, before completely taking her hand away. "You two… we can't fight here!"

Dodge lowered his hat, revealing only the bottom half of his eyes. "I can't hit Monado Boy – and I can't hit Sariel, because she's Lady L's sister, you know? But you, Aren? There's no rule against that. Gosh, I even have justification. You could pass as a project from Mechonis, like the G.E.M units… couldn't you?"

"Maybe to a complete idiot," Aren hissed. "You're taking the piss, aren't ya? There's no way you're this dull… I'm not a Mechon. I'm real flesh and blood! And if you want to find out, I'll gladly show ya." Aren uttered with an intimidating, cold tone. "Truth be told, I'm always itchin' for a fight… and if you're gonna try to press my buttons… guess I'll just have to press you against a wall?"

Dodge chuckled. "Oh, you might want to reword that one."

"Shut up, you two!" Marsh, suddenly raising his voice ordered, pointing the Monado ahead at Dodge with a scowl. "Keep this rubbish up and I'm going to ditch your whole plan… and I'll take the Monado with me."

Dodge gazed at Marsh for a brief moment with a smile.

"That's the smart way of defusing this, Monado Boy. Good job! You passed the test - I wanted to see how you'd handle that. Honestly. Didn't think your pal'd get so mad over it, though. Geez louise!"

"… There's no way that was a test." Sariel added. "Quit it with your bull!"

"Own up to your words!" Aren yelled at Dodge. "You're just going to take them back that easily!? Be a man!"

Dodge ignored Aren's words as he opened the door to Reece's room, revealing none other than Reece, all in one piece. A smile grew on Aren's face as he saw Reece, but… the same couldn't be said for Reece.

"Aren… what were you doing? Are you okay?" Reece sheepishly spoke.

Out of the corner of Aren's eye, Dodge slowly left the room. Shortly after, Aren shook his head. "No… nothing happened. And, Reece…" Aren continued. "My bad… my bad for letting those ghosts get you… that was my fault."

"Don't worry about it. It wasn't your fault." Reece assured. "I'm just happy you guys came looking for me. I guess I owe you all for that, huh." Reece leaned against the wall.

"You don't owe us anything, kid! We did what was right… and knowing we've done that, that's the real reward!" Sariel added.

Marsh nodded in agreement, though he didn't say anything.

But, Aren turned to face both Marsh and Sariel, with a relieved smile. "Wouldn't be fair if I didn't thank you two for helping me out here… I'm pretty good, but I wouldn't have been able to get any of that done alone. So, thanks."

"No problem… would've felt wrong if I didn't do anything." Marsh said. "I've got the Monado, so it would've been wrong not to help out."

"So what are you going to do now?" Sariel asked. "You were trying to get out of that cave before, then we ended up in Garal-Javena… so where are you going to go from here?"

"I need to take Reece back to Larane… she's going to be worried about him, real worried. After I do that, chances are that our paths'll be splittin'. I'd love to come along, but Colony 7 – my duty's there, as a defender against the Mechon. If I don't, then… there might be a repeat of Colony 5."

"Colony 5…" Reece mumbled to nobody in particular."

"I won't lie," Marsh began. "It's a shame that we'll be taking different paths. You were a pretty cool guy, all things considered."

Shortly after these words, a semi-familiar presence entered the room, none other than Lorithia.

"I trust I'm not interrupting anything?" Lorithia asked. "However, something rather urgent has arisen, so may I ask for your attention?"

"Fire away." Marsh told.

Lorithia began to explain. "I trust you have heard of Colony 8... for weeks now, they have been suffering small-scale Mechon attacks. While they've proved themselves capable of protecting themselves... it seems as if they cannot hold out much longer. As Wielder of the Monado, this is where you come in. This is where you can make a change..."

Marsh nodded. "A Mechon attack…? Then... I'll go. It's my duty from here on out, isn't it...?"

"Don't say 'I'll go'! Say 'we're going'! Because it's not just you who's fighting the Mechon now – you've got me, and if Aren's coming along, you've got him, too. We're a team, aren't we?"

"… Yeah. We're a team, so we'll do this, together."

Lorithia frowned. "Sister? You, too?"

"It's dangerous, yeah. But think about what you said to Marsh. It's not just him that can't stand by and let people get hurt… I've got to pitch in with an effort, too. Not doing that, well… that'd be just wrong. If I can make a difference, then that's what I'm gonna do."

"I see… if that is your choice, then follow that path. Just be careful, sister." Lorithia spoke.

"I'll be coming along, you two. But I might need to drop off this little ankle-biter, first…!" Aren placed a hand onto Reece's shoulder. "Wouldn't want him getting hurt by those damned machines."

"To exit Javena, all you will need to locate is the Great Gate – found at the top of a large stairway. However, the guards may raise a fuss… so, in that case, I will order Dodge to accompany you. He should have the necessary… _permissions_ to allow you to leave."

* * *

 _Side Notes: Not the most thrilling of chapters, probably, but hopefully that'll be changing soon. The plot's getting somewhere in my head, though, and I like that. Like, I've had a fair bit planned since the start, and it's finally getting into that stuff - outside the beginning. Feels good._

 _Anyways, made a few edits to Chapters 1-4 to improve readability. It's nothing new, just reworded stuff to hopefully improve them a bit. I'll probably do them for the later chapters too._

 _Also, thanks to you guys who are reading this - I hope you're enjoying it so far. I'm enjoying writing it, for one._


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